3  1822  01387  9028 


Old  and  Second  Hand 

Books.   NoveU.i  Etc. 

Bought.  Sold   and  Ex* 

changed. 

OTIS  W.    POTTER, 

IOI  Snow  St:r«set, 

Providence.  R.  I- 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  Or 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


presented  to  the 

LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  •  SAN  DIF.GO 

by 
FRIENDS  OF  THE  LIBRARY 


Mrs.   Edwin  W.    Meise 

donor 


3   1822  01387  9028 


DS 


THE   NATIONS   OF  THE   WORLD 


AN  HISTORICAL  SERIES 


IN 
THIRTY  VOLUMES 


VOLUME     TWENTY-NINE 


JAPAN 


JAPAN 

BY 

WALTER  JMCKSON 

WITH  TWO  SUPPLEMENTARY  CHAPTERS  OF  RECENT  EVENTS 

By  MAYO  W.  HAZELTINE 


ILL  USTRA  TED 


NEW  YORK 

PETER  FENELON  COLLIER 

MDCCCXCVIll 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  IMPERIAL  FAMILY  AND  COURT 9 

CHAPTER  II 
THE  EIGHT  BOARDS  OF  GOVERNMENT 55 

CHAPTER  III 
HISTORY  OF  THE  EMPIRE  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  NOBU  NANGA 78 

CHAPTER  IV 
GOVERNMENT  OF  'j  AIKOSAMA 124 

CHAPTER  V 
GOVERNMENT  OF  IYEYAS 160 

CHAPTER  VI 
HISTORY  TO  THE  EXPULSION  OF  CHRISTIANITY 176 

CHAPTER  VH 
THE  LAWS  OF  IYEYAS 192 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  POSITION  AND  COURT  OF  THE  SHIOGOON 223 

CHAPTER   IX 
THE  DAIMIOS 228 

CHAPTER  X 
THE  DAIMIO  CLASS 279 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  EMPIRE  CONTINUED 288 

CHAPTER  XII 
EVENTS  FOLLOWING  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  SHIOGOONATE 363 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  NEW  JAPAN  AND  THE  WAR  WITH  CHINA..  ..  374 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


JAPAN 

Frontispiece— lokio— Pagoda  and  Bell  Temple 
Scene  on  Japanese  Man-of-War  . 
Yokohama  and  Harbor 
Japanese  Shipping  Prior  to  1865         .        . 


PREFACE 


IN  the  preparation  of  the  following  Work  the  Author 
has  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  which  he  has  received 
from  a  Japanese  gentleman  in  Yokohama,  whose  name, 
for  obvious  reasons,  it  is  prudent  not  to  mention. 

With  his  knowledge  of  the  history  and  institutions 
of  his  country,  the  Author  was  able  to  fill  up  the 
blanks  in  short  notices  of  history  contained  in  elemen- 
tary Japanese  books.  He  was  further  enabled  to  go 
over  the  red-books  of  the  empire  which  enter  into  the 
details  of  the  pedigrees  of  illustrious  families,  and  into 
the  minutiae  of  Government  offices. 

The  supposed  unalterable  character  of  these  institu- 
tions induces  those  who  have  any  pretensions  to  learn- 
ing in  China  and  Japan  to  master  and  retain  by  mem- 
ory the  names  and  duties  of  the  different  offices  in  the 
various  departments  of  Government;  and  they  are  fre- 
quently found  to  be  good  authorities  upon  questions 
upon  which  there  is  no  published  information. 

In  the  history  of  the  intercourse  of  the  Jesuits  with 
Japan,  the  letters  of  the  fathers  have  been  almost  the 


6  PREFACE. 

only   authorities  relied    upon;    while  in   the    more   recent 
events  contemporary   publications  have   been   used. 

In  taking  notes  from  the  conversation  of  a  Japa- 
nese who  could  speak  but  little  English,  in  too  many 
cases  they  were  written  down  in  what  is  known  in 
China  as  "pigeon  English";  and  the  Author  has  to 
acknowledge  and  regret  that  in  many  cases  the  cramped 
nature  of  the  notes  has  not  been  entirely  removed,  and 
for  such  instances  he  craves  the  indulgence  of  the 
reader. 


CHAPTER   I 

THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY   AND   COURT 

MAN,  in  the  earlier  periods  of  his  existence,  when  he  was 
as  yet  putting  forth  his  juvenile  strength  to  subdue  creation, 
was  ever  inclined  to  look  upon  the  great  forces  of  nature  as 
difficulties  in  his  path  and  obstacles  to  his  progress,  which, 
in  his  more  mature  strength,  he  has  come  to  regard  as  aids 
to  help  him,  and  to  cherish  as  the  very  means  to  the  at- 
tainment of  his  ends.  Such  an  object  of  awe  to  the  earlier 
mariner  was  the  great  ocean,  when  he  had  no  compass  to 
guide  him  over  its  unknown  and  apparently  boundless  ex- 
panse, and  with  no  knowledge  of  the  winds  and  no  experi- 
ence of  the  currents.  "When  he  had  no  means  of  keeping 
food  or  fresh  water  for  any  great  length  of  time,  he  was  a 
bold  man  who  would  venture  far  out  of  sight  of  land.  Pro- 
vided with  the  faithful  compass,  men  became  bolder;  they 
enlarged  their  vessels,  making  longer  voyages,  until  they  ran 
over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Eastern  seas.  Still  the 
China  Sea,  with  its  typhoons  and  its  monsoons  and  currents, 
down  to  a  comparatively  recent  period,  was  looked  upon  as 
an  obstacle  which  was  to  be  smoothed  down  and  not  to  be 
wrestled  with.  To  beat  up  the  China  Sea  against  the  north- 
eastern monsoon  was  considered  a  rash  struggle  and  a  fool- 
hardy waste  of  time,  and  in  consequence  the  trade- voyages 
to  China  were  confined  to  vessels  going  up  the  sea  in  sum- 

(9) 


10  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

mer  with  the  southerly  monsoon  and  returning  in  winter 
with  the  northerly.  Obstacles  such  as  these  made  mariners 
unwilling  to  run  the  risk  of  pushing  up  the  sea  the  length 
of  Shanghai  or  Japan,  when  the  time  of  their  return  was 
a  matter  of  so  much  doubt. 

In  the  present  age,  when  man  is  thinking  himself  of  some 
importance  from  the  little  odds  and  ends  of  knowledge  he 
has  stored  up,  the  ocean,  instead  of  being  a  barrier  of  separa- 
tion between  islands  and  continents,  has  become  what  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  was  to  the  Old  World — a  link  of  connec- 
tion, a  highway  of  commerce,  and  steam  has  become  a  bridge 
by  which  distant  shores  have  been  joined  together.  The 
world  is  now  finding  out  that  she  is  one — that  the  interests  of 
nations  are  one,  and  that  no  one  part  of  the  body  can  say  to 
the  other,  "I  have  no  need  of  thee."  If  Japan  has  hitherto 
felt  herself  in  a  position  to  use  such  an  expression  to  her 
fellow-members  of  the  body  cosmopolitan,  and  the  feeling 
has  been  responded  to  by  their  acquiescence,  the  time  and 
circumstances  seem  to  have  arrived  when  this  seclusion  is  to 
be  ended.  The  distance  at  which  these  islands  seemed  to  lie 
from  the  heart  of  the  world's  circulation,  Europe,  has  been 
almost  annihilated,  and  European  nations  have  through  the 
settlements  in  India  and  China  crept  up  alongside  of  the  isles 
of  the  East.  The  difficulties  of  access  have  been  smoothed 
away,  her  sumptuary  laws  have  been  abrogated,  while  the 
produce  of  her  rich  soil  is  daily  increasing  to  meet  the  de- 
mands which  are  made  upon  it,  and  which  she  is  becoming 
willing  and  ready  to  exchange  for  that  of  which  she  is  more 
in  need. 

Steam  has  been  the  active  agent  in  bringing  about  these 
changes,  causing  the  pulses  of  trade  to  beat  with  greater 
frequency  and  with  increased  vigor.  But  to  any  one  who 
looks  below  the  surface  there  may  be  seen  other  agents  at 
work,  all  concurring  at  this  crisis  in  the  world's  existence  to 
produce  changes  of  portentous  magnitude.  The  discoveries 
of  chemistry,  whether  by  the  aggressive  forces  obtained  in 
the  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war,  or  by  the  more  widely 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY   AND    COURT.  11 

extended  but  silent  beneficial  operation  of  such  an  agent  as 
quinine,  steam  with  all  its  ramifications  of  wealth,  the  tele- 
graph with  its  tenfold  power  of  convertibility,  the  discovery 
of  gold  at  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  world,  have  combined 
to  produce,  by  the  sudden  influx  of  real  wealth,  by  the  inter- 
mingling of  ranks  of  men,  and  by  the  rapid  throwing  into 
men's  minds  of  a  quantity  of  information  or  of  knowledge, 
a  condition  of  things  in  the  mass  which  makes  that  mass 
knead  able  by  those  who  can  knead  it,  and  fitted  for  the 
reception  of  any  leaven,  for  good  or  for  evil,  which  may  be 
mixed  with  it.  The  mingling  of  ranks  in  the  social  system, 
the  disturbance  of  creeds  hi  the  religious,  the  confounding 
of  parties  in  the  political,  are  preparing  the  way  for  some 
world-wide  change,  by  which  old  systems  are  to  be  done 
away  and  new  established.  It  is  not  working  in  one  nation 
alone,  but  in  all :  it  is  not  confined  to  Christendom,  showing 
that  the  time  to  come  is  not  to  be  like  times  past ;  but  that 
the  time  is  coming  when  it  is  possible  for  one  person  to  aim 
at  one  rule  over  the  whole  world.  This  change  is  coming 
up  like  the  rising  of  water.  It  may  overwhelm  all  existing 
things  like  a  wave.  Some  call  it  Progress,  others  Democ- 
racy, but,  whatever  it  be,  it  is  evident  that  every  existing 
institution  is  to  get  such  a  shaking  that  only  the  things  that 
cannot  be  shaken  will  stand. 

All  national  institutions  having,  or  pretending  to  have, 
order,  will  probably  have  to  undergo  this  trial ;  and  when  it 
comes  the  whole  remains  of  the  feudal  system  will  be  tested  : 
monarchies,  the  peerage,  tenures  of  land,  orders  in  the 
Church,  and,  above  all,  the  question  of  primogeniture,  can- 
not fail  to  be  put  on  trial.  The  different  sections  in  the 
religious  and  political  world  seem  gradually  separating  them- 
selves into  two  large  parties,  the  one  standing  for  the  vox 
Dei,  the  other  holding  the  vox  populi  to  be  the  vox  Dei — 
the  one  believing  that  power  comes  from  above,  the  other 
that  power  comes  from  below. 

The  leaven  is  working  in  the  minds  of  men,  whether 
they  will  it  or  not ;  and  no  nation  will  feel  the  effects  of  this 


12  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

fermentation  more  than  Japan.  Above  all  nations,  she  to 
this  hour  retains  her  feudal  system  intact.  She  must  learn, 
as  others  have  in  past  times  and  may  have  to  learn  again, 
at  the  expense  of  revolution  and  blood.  The  people  are 
already  being  stirred,  and  dare  to  question.  The  nobles 
are  beginning  to  quake,  they  know  not  why,  in  the  face 
of  changes  which  are  being  forced  upon  them.  The  very 
throne  of  the  emperor  is  being  searched  and  shaken. 

In  order  to  understand  where  the  weakness  of  a  building 
lies,  or  how  it  is  likely  to  fall  down,  it  is  first  necessary  to 
know  how  it  is  constructed ;  and  in  order  to  comprehend  the 
changes  which  events  may  bring  about  in  Japan,  some  idea 
must  be  formed  of  the  government  of  the  country.  Without 
some  knowledge  of  the  framework  of  the  constitution,  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  the  relative  position  of  mentor  to 
appreciate  the  operation  of  external  agents  upon  the  system 
of  the  empire,  whether  that  operation  work  by  a  slow  process 
of  leavening  from  within,  or  by  a  violent  concussion  from 
without. 

The  aim  of  the  author  in  the  following  pages  has  'been  to 
give  some  idea  of  the  framework  of  the  constitution  of  Japan. 
Having  resided  for  some  little  time  in  the  country,  he  was 
enabled  to  get  what  seemed  to  him  a  clearer  glimpse  of  the 
working  of  the  different  parts  of  the  machinery  of  State  than 
was  to  be  gained  from  any  of  the  able  works  published  on 
the  subject.  The  time  at  his  command  was  too  short,  and 
his  knowledge  of  the  language  too  limited,  to  enable  him  to 
do  more  than  prepare  a  sketch  which  may  serve  a  temporary 
purpose,  before  works  of  greater  research  and  fuller  inf orma- 
tion  are  produced. 

The  position  of  the  Emperor  (Spiritual  Emperor,  as  he  is 
sometimes  erroneously  called),  as  the  first  in  the  empire, 
must  be  recognized;  the  office  held  by  the  Temporal  Em- 
peror, the  Shiogoon  (or  Tycoon,  as  he  has  been  named),  must 
be  correctly  and  distinctly  understood  before  the  nature  of 
the  rule  in  the  empire  can  be  comprehended.  It  is  further 
essential  that  the  student  should  be  acquainted  with  the  rank 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY   AND    COURT.  13 

and  position  of  the  nobility  or  nobilities  of  the  empire  (for  of 
these  there  are  two  classes) — that  of  Miako  at  the  court  of 
the  Emperor,  the  Koongays ;  and  that  at  Yedo  at  the  court 
of  the  Shiogoon,  the  Daimio,  and  beneath  them  the  Hatta- 
moto.  "Without  some  knowledge  of  these  the  reader  is  lost 
in  a  maze  of  unmeaning  names  and  titles ;  but  with  a  slight 
acquaintance  with  the  rank,  offices,  and  names  of  these 
nobles,  he  is  able  not  only  to  follow  the  thread  of  history, 
but  to  understand  the  intricacies  of  current  events. 

A  description  of  a  picture  by  a  native  artist,  seen  by  the 
author  of  this  volume,  may  give  some  idea  of  the  relation  in 
which  these  dignitaries  stand  the  one  to  the  other.  The 
upper  half  of  the  picture  represents  the  Shiogoon  or  Tycoon 
at  the  palace  in  the  capital,  Miako,  making  his  obeisance  and 
performing  homage  before  his  liege  lord  the  Emperor,  seated 
in  the  great  hall,  Shi  shin  den,  of  the  palace.  The  upper 
part  of  the  Emperor's  person  is  concealed  behind  a  screen  of 
thin  slips  of  bamboo  hanging  from  the  roof.  The  throne  is 
three  mats,  or  thin  mattresses,  placed  one  above  the  other 
upon  the  floor.  There  is  no  chair  or  support  to  the  back. 
On  each  side  of  the  Emperor  sit  on  their  knees  on  the  floor 
the  high  officers  of  his  court.  Before  him  is  seen  the  late 
Shiogoon,  kneeling  and  prostrating  himself,  with  his  head 
to  the  floor.  Behind  the  Shiogoon  are  his  high  officers  Stots- 
bashi  and  the  great  Daimio  Owarri,  both  in  a  similar  position 
of  prostration ;  while  beneath,  in  the  open  court,  are  military 
officials  of  the  Imperial  Court  standing  or  kneeling.  This 
picture  represents  accurately  a  fact,  and  what  appears  to  be 
a  correct  illustration  of  the  ideas  of  the  people  of  Japan  with 
regard  to  the  relative  status  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Shiogoon. 

It  may  almost  be  a  matter  of  wonder  that  so  little  was 
known  of  Japan  until  the  advent  of  the  Portuguese.  Men 
were  in  old  times  adventurous  travelers,  and  yet,  except  what 
is  contained  in  the  pages  of  Marco  Polo,  written  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  nothing  more  was  known  of  the  existence  of 
the  country.  The  Buddhism  of  India  had  permeated  China, 
Corea,  and  Japan,  but  it  brought  nothing  back.  Moham- 


14  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

medanism,  at  an  early  stage,  reached  China,  and  gained 
many  converts,  and  the  Arabs  carried  on  an  extensive  trade 
with  China  and  the  Eastern  Isles ;  but  neither  by  their  writ- 
ings nor  by  the  early  native  accounts  do  they  seem  to  have 
reached  the  shores  of  Japan,  or,  at  least,  ever  to  have  re- 
turned from  them.  This  may  perhaps  be  attributed  to  the 
wars  of  the  Crusades,  which  appear  to  have  lighted  up  such 
a  fierce  feeling  between  the  Christian  and  the  Moslem  as  to 
have  proved  a  barrier  to  the  inquisitiveness  of  the  former 
in  his  investigations  regarding  the  East.  When  the  Portu- 
guese, in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  had  pushed 
their  discoveries  and  trade  as  far  as  Malacca,  and  thence  to 
China,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  such  adventurous  seamen 
as  they  then  were  would,  before  long,  solve  the  question  of 
a  people  living  under  the  rising  sun.  It  is  fortunate  that, 
among  the  lawless  buccaneers  and  pirates,  as  they  evidently 
were,  on  those  seas  during  his  time,  one  man,  Mendez  Pinto, 
should  have  been  found  with  the  zeal  to  write  some  account 
of  the  doings  on  the  Sea  of  China,  and  to  lift  the  veil  which, 
until  he  wrote,  hung  over  the  events  which  he  records.  That 
the  latter  part  of  his  narrative,  relating  principally  to  China, 
should  have  been  called  mendacious,  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at.  But  all  that  he  relates  with  reference  to  Japan  is  not 
only  corroborated  by  a  closer  acquaintance  with  the  country 
and  people,  but  also  by  the  native  historians  in  their  accounts 
of  the  arrival  of  foreigners  in  the  country,  as  well  as  by  the 
letters  of  the  Jesuits  who  visited  Japan  very  shortly  after  it 
was  first  discovered  by  the  Portuguese  traders. 

Subsequently  to  the  period  at  which  Mendez  Pinto  wrote, 
the  history  of  foreign  relations  with  the  country  is  kept  up 
by  the  letters  of  priests  and  Jesuits  who  occupied  Japan  as 
a  field  for  the  spread  of  Christianity.  In  the  "Histoire  de 
PEglise  du  Japon"  there  is  an  excellent  summary  of  occur- 
rences connected  with  the  Church,  its  missions,  its  successes, 
its  difficulties,  its  martyrs,  and  its  enemies,  together  with  a 
glance  at  events  in  Japan  during  the  most  eventful  crisis  in 
the  history  of  the  country.  After  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuito 


THE  IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND   COURT.  15 

and  Roman  Catholic  doctrines  from  the  empire,  there  are 
accounts  from  time  to  time  published  by  the  officers  con- 
nected with  the  establishment  kept  up  by  Holland  at  Naga- 
saki. Caron,  Fischer,  Meylan — but,  above  all,  Ksempfer 
and  Thunberg,  and  Titsingh  and  Klaproth — and,  in  our  own 
times,  Siebold — have  done  much  to  elucidate  the  manners 
and  customs  and  natural  history  of  Japan. 

Kaempfer  has  given  a  most  interesting  and  instructive 
account  of  what  he  saw  in  the  country  during  a  long  resi- 
dence, and  upon  more  than  one  progress  to  the  courts  at 
Miako  and  Yedo.  His  delineation  of  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  people  of  Japan  will  remain  as  a  memorial  of  a 
state  of  things  seen  under  circumstances  not  likely  to  occur 
again.  But  the  work  was  published  by  another  after  the 
death  of  the  author,  and,  in  consequence  of  this,  many  of 
the  names  of  men,  places  and  things  are  nearly  unintelligi- 
ble. Ksempfer's  work  is  well  known  to  the  Japanese,  hav- 
ing been  translated  or  repeatedly  copied  in  manuscript,  and 
is  known  as  "Su  koku  rong."  It  is  an  interdicted  book,  and 
only  recently  a  man  was  punished  upon  being  detected  in 
the  act  of  copying  the  translation.  The  translation  by  Kla- 
proth of  the  "Annales  des  Empereurs  de  Japon"  is  a  most 
valuable  work,  and  contains  a  wonderful  amount  of  infor- 
mation, being,  as  it  were,  the  complement  of  Ksempfer's 
work,  drawn  entirely  from  books  and  not  from  personal 
observation. 

The  natives  of  Japan  appear  to  have  an  intense  love  and 
reverence  for  their  own  country,  and  every  individual  in  the 
empire  seems  to  have  a  deep  and  thorough  appreciation  of 
the  natural  beauties  and  delights  of  the  country.  To  this 
the  genial  climate,  the  rich  soil,  and  the  variety  of  the  sur- 
face contribute.  The  islands  lie  at  such  a  latitude  as  to 
make  the  air  in  summer  warm  without  being  hot,  and  in 
winter  cold  without  being  raw.  The  soil,  as  in  all  recent 
lava  soils,  is  of  a  rich  black  mould,  raising  the  finest  crops 
of  millet,  wheat  and  sugar-cane,  and  when  supplied  in  un- 
stinted profusion  rearing  splendid  timber,  or  capable,  when 


16  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

nearly  entirely  withdrawn,  of  keeping  life  and  vigor  and 
seeding  power  in  a  pine  tree  of  two  inches  in  height.  The 
trees  have  a  tendency  to  break  out  into  excrescences  from 
plethora.  The  variety  of  surface  arises  from  the  great 
height  to  which  the  mountains  rise  in  an  island  which  at 
no  part  presents  so  great  a  breadth  as  England,  and  yet 
slopes  gradually  from  the  mountain  tops  to  the  sea.  Some 
of  these  ridges  appear  to  rise  to  the  height  of  Mont  Blanc, 
one  of  them,  Fusiyama,  being  upward  of  thirteen  thousand 
feet  in  height,  and  it  would  appear  that  other  ranges  are 
higher.  The  great  beauty  of  Fusi  (pah  rh,  not  two)  consists 
in  its  rising  singly  out  of  a  low  country  with  a  beautifully 
curved  sweep  to  a  conical  apex ;  and  the  atmospheric  effects 
changing  from  hour  to  hour,  as  it  is  seen  from  thirteen 
provinces,  give  such  a  variety  to  this  single  object  that  it 
is  rightly  called  by  a  name  to  express  the  feeling  that  there 
are  not  two  such  in  the  world.  The  variations  of  atmos- 
pheric density  ma^e  it  look  at  one  time  much  higher  than  at 
another.  It  may  be  seen  with  its  head  clear  in  the  blue  sky 
rising  out  of  a  thick  base  of  clouds — or  the  clouds  rise  and 
roll  in  masses  about  the  middle,  leaving  the  gentle  curve  to 
be  filled  up  by  the  mind's  eye  from  the  base  to  the  apex. 
Again,  the  whole  contour,  in  a  sort  of  proud,  queenly  sweep, 
stands  out  against  a  cloudless  ether,  or  with  a  little  vapor 
drifting  to  leeward  of  the  summit  giving  the  appearance 
of  a  crater — or,  after  a  cool  night  in  September,  the  eye  is 
arrested  by  the  appearance  of  the  bursting  downward  of  a 
flattened  shell,  the  pure  white  snow  filling  the  valleys  from 
the  top,  the  haze  of  the  morning  half  concealing  the  hill  be- 
neath. Every  hour  brings  a  change  upon  a  landscape  which 
consists  of  a  single  object  which  the  lover  of  nature  can 
never  weary  of  admiring,  in  a  climate  where  seventy  miles  of 
atmosphere  does  not  obscure  the  larger  features  on  the  face 
of  the  mountain  even  to  the  naked  eye.  How  often  would 
such  an  object  be  visible  in  the  climate  of  England? 

The  first  settlement  of  inhabitants  upon  an  island  is  always 
a  subject  of  interesting  speculation  and  inquiry.     The  insu- 


THE  IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  17 

lar  position  gives  an  idea  of  a  definite  time  or  period  at  which 
the  peopling  of  a  large  island  must  have  taken  place.  The 
freedom  of  possession  of  boundless  wealth  presents  every  in- 
ducement to  the  immigrant  to  remain,  while  distance  and 
difficulties  repel  the  idea  of  return.  In  Japan  this  immigra- 
tion may  in  all  probability  have  commenced  by  a  gradual 
spreading  from  the  north  of  inhabitants  of  Manchuria 
through  the  islands  of  Saghalien  and  Jezo  to  those  of  the 
Japanese  group. 

During  the  earlier  periods  of  a  nation's  existence,  the  art 
of  writing  has  been  generally  kept  hi  the  hands  of  men  who 
have  devoted  themselves  to  a  life  of  retirement  and  seclu- 
sion from  the  strife  and  temptations  of  the  outer  world. 
These  have  been  found  among  the  priesthood,  and  it  has 
been  their  business  or  their  amusement  to  gather  up  and 
commit  to  writing  what  had  been  up  to  the  time  current  as 
oral  tradition  in  regard  to  prehistoric  occurrences.  Men  are 
forced  by  reasoning  to  refer  the  appearance  of  their  first  an- 
cestors to  a  creation  by,  or  procession  from,  a  Divine  Being. 
At  the  same  time,  those  who  have  wielded  the  power  of 
writing,  and  thereby  reached  and  influenced  a  larger  circle 
of  their  fellowmen,  have  generally  endeavored  to  clothe  the 
deities  from  whom  they  profess  to  have  sprung  with  virtues 
which  were  to  be  emulated  by  their  descendants,  or  to  incul- 
cate through  them,  by  precept,  a  purity  of  moral  conduct  to 
be  practiced  by  their  followers. 

The  group  of  islands  generally  included  under  the  one 
name  Japan  was  known  in  remote  times  by  a  variety  of 
names — "  Akitsu  sima,  Toyo  aki,  Toyo  ashiwarra  no  nakatsa 
kooni."  "Wo  kwo,"  the  country  of  peace,  is  used  by  the 
Chinese  for  Japan.  "Ho,"  pronounced  "Yamato,"  and 
used  for  one  province,  is  frequently  applied  in  Japan  to 
the  whole  country. 

The  name  Nippon — Nits  pon — "Yutpone"  in  Cantonese, 
"Jih  pun"  hi  the  Mandarin  dialect,  by  which  the  whole  em- 
pire is  now  known — is  of  Chinese  origin,  and  has  probably 
been  conveyed  to  the  country  by  the  first  Chinese  settlers. 


18  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Denoting,  as  the  name  implies,  that  it  is  the  country  where 
the  sun  rises,  the  idea  must  have  originated  with  the  people 
to  the  west.  "Hon  cho,"  another  name  by  which  it  is 
known,  conveys  the  same  idea,  "The  beginning  or  root  of 
the  morning."  The  name  "Yamato,"  peaceful,  harmoni- 
ous, was  more  likely  to  have  originated  with  the  natives. 
"  Akitsu  sima"  implies  that  the  island  resembles  a  dragon-fly 
in  shape,  and  was  at  first  applied  to  Kiusiu  alone.  "Shin 
koku, ' '  a  name  by  which  the  Japanese  speak  of  their  own 
empire,  means  the  land  of  spirits ;  and  a  similar  idea  is  con- 
veyed by  the  name  "Kami  no  kooni."  "Awadsi  sima"  re- 
fers to  the  supposed  origin  of  the  islands  from  mud  or  froth, 
and  is  still  applied  to  the  large  island  lying  between  Nippon 
and  Sikok. 

Some  of  these  names  probably  retain  the  old  words  used 
by  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  country  translated  into 
Chinese  by  the  new  immigrants.  To  these  newcomers  it 
was  no  doubt  a  work  of  pleasure  to  gather  up  what  stores  of 
tradition  were  floating  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  country, 
and,  adding  thereto  much  from  their  own  imagination,  to 
compose  a  mythology  suited  to  the  genius  of  the  people. 
This  mythology,  which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been  com- 
posed by  some  of  the  Chinese  literati  about  the  court,  had 
for  its  object  the  elevation  of  the  reigning  family,  and  the 
assertion  for  that  family  of  a  divine  origin  and  divine  an- 
cestry. It  is  worthy  of  note  that  these  divine  ancestors  were 
known  at  a  very  early  period  by  Chinese  names,  that  of  the 
mother  and  founder  of  the  imperial  family  being  "Ten  sho 
dai  jin" — the  "great  spirit  of  the  celestial  splendor  of  the 
sun,"  four  distinct  Chinese  words. 

According  to  this  mythology,  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
having  formed  themselves  out  of  nothing,  gave  forth  a  spirit 
— a  "kami" — who  was  the  father  of  a  line  of  seven  genera- 
tions of  spiritual  beings  who  ruled  the  universe  as  it  then 
was,  during  a  period  extending  over  millions  of  years,  end- 
ing in  a  male  and  a  female,  respectively  named  Issanaghi 
and  Issanami.  These  seem  equivalents  to  or  representatives 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  19 

of  the  male  and  the  female  principles  which,  according  to 
the  Chinese,  pervade  all  animate  creation.  They  are  alle- 
gorically  represented  as  producing  the  islands  of  Japan,  the 
mountains,  seas  and  other  natural  objects  therein.  Subse- 
quently a  daughter  was  brought  forth,  "Ten  sho  dai  jin," 
who  is  the  spirit  of  the  sun;  and  another,  "Tsuki  no  kami," 
the  spirit  of  the  moon.  These  divinities  are  of  no  further 
importance  in  history  than  as  serving  to  make  a  line  of  an- 
cestry for  the  reigning  family.  At  the  time  when,  according 
to  tradition,  the  genealogy  merged  in  mortal  men,  the  coun- 
try was  found  to  be  peopled,  and  there  is  no  attempt  to 
show  whence  these  people  came,  though  described  as  hairy, 
uncivilized,  and  living  in  the  open  air.  These  myths  are 
generally  of  a  Buddhistic  origin,  and  were  probably  brought 
over  or  invented  by  some  missionary  of  that  religion  at  an 
early  time,  when  the  influence  of  India  operated  strongly  in 
the  spread  of  its  doctrines.  This  influence  is  shown  to  this 
day  in  the  repetition  of  prayers  in  an  unknown  language, 
and  the  retention  of  an  Indian  alphabet  and  writing — the 
Sanskrit  or  Devanagari — in  all  the  religious  works  of  Japan. 

Some  of  these  divinities  are  so  frequently  heard  of,  and 
representations  of  them,  in  pictures  and  carvings,  are  so 
common,  that  even  a  slight  acquaintance  with  their  names 
and  attributes  is  useful.  The  different  Buddhas  are  wor- 
shiped; Compera;  the  five  hundred  "Rakhan"  or  "Lohon"; 
the  "Kwanon,"  or  goddess  of  mercy;  and  the  "Stchi  fuku 
jing,"  or  seven  gods  of  riches.  These  last  are  generally 
drawn  or  carved  on  a  boat,  with  emblems  around  them  of 
long  life,  etc.  —the  stork,  tortoise,  a  deer,  a  bag  of  money, 
a  fir-tree,  a  bamboo,  a  crystal  ball,  a  fish.  Their  names  are 
— Hotay  Daikoku,  Yaybissu,  Benten,  Gayho,  Bistamong, 
Fukowo  kojiu.  But  the  religion  is  more  or  less  pantheistic, 
and  there  are  many  other  gods  and  divinities,  even  down  to 
shapeless  stones. 

To  "Ten  sho  dai  jin"  is  attributed  the  origin  of  the  im- 
perial house,  as  is  shown  by  the  words  of  the  Emperor,  in  a 
letter  recently  written  on  the  political  position  of  affairs,  "I 


20  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

am  grieved,  standing  as  I  do  between  'Ten  sho  dai  jin'  and 
my  people." 

In  the  fifth  generation  after  "Ten  sho  dai  jin"  was  born 
"Zinmu"  or  "Jin  mu"  (Chin:  Shinwu — i.e.,  spirit  of  war). 
He  was  the  first  of  the  earthly  or  human  rulers.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  born  in  Fiuga,  a  mountainous  province  on  the 
east  side  of  Kiu  siu,  on  the  west  coast  of  the  Boo  ngo  Chan- 
nel. This  part  of  the  islands  is  well  suited  for  trading  pur- 
poses, and  it  is  also  well  adapted  for  the  landing  of  an 
invading  force,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Zinmu  either 
originally  came  from  China,  or  was  the  son  of  some  Chi- 
nese who  had  settled  there,  and  who  started  thence  on  a 
design  of  conquest.  At  the  time  when  he  set  out  upon  his 
career,  the  people  of  the  country  are  said  to  have  been  hairy 
and  uncivilized,  but  under  the  rule  of  a  headman  in  each 
village.  The  Japanese  have  to  this  day  a  great  contempt 
for  the  people  of  Yezo,  who  may  be  thus  described,  and  they 
allege  that  similar  tribes  occupied  the  whole  of  the  islands, 
and  that  they  were  gradually  driven  back  before  the  armies 
of  Zinmu.  It  is  more  likely  that  they  were  conquered,  and 
gradually  amalgamated  with  their  conquerors  by  the  inter- 
marriage of  these  with  native  females,  and  that  in  this  way, 
and  by  the  effects  of  the  warm  climate  of  the  south,  they 
lost  that  hirsute  appearance  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the 
people  of  Yezo. — Aino,  the  name  given  to  the  hairy  inhabi- 
tants of  Yezo  by  the  Japanese,  means  "between,"  and  has 
reference  to  a  contemptuous  idea  of  the  origin  of  these  peo- 
ple from  a  dog. — There  are  two  strongly-marked  varieties  of 
feature  in  Japan,  which  are  always  strikingly  portrayed  in 
their  own  pictures.  There  is  the  broad  flat  face  of  the  lower 
classes,  and  the  high  nose  and  oval  face  of  the  higher.  The 
difference  is  so  marked  as  to  be  some  argument  in  favor  of 
a  previous  mixing  of  two  different  races ;  the  one  of  which 
had  extended  southward  from  the  Kurile  Islands  and  Sibe- 
ria, hairy  and  broad-featured ;  while  the  other  had  originated 
from  the  south,  with  Indian  features  and  smooth  skins. 

The  Japanese  themselves  do  not  pretend  that  there  is  any 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT.  21 

native  documentary  evidence  in  support  of  their  history  at 
the  date  of  Zinmu,  and  the  best  writers  allow  that  no  writ- 
ings prior  to  the  seventh  century  are  authentic.  The  intro- 
duction of  Chinese  letters  into  Japan  is  generally  attributed 
to  Onin,  a  learned  man  who  came  from  Corea  about  the 
year  285  A.D.  But  prior  to  the  date  of  Onin,  many  of  the 
names  of  offices  and  officers  were  Chinese.  It  is  hardly 
credible  that,  with  the  communication  which  is  known  to 
have  existed  at  different  times  between  Japan  and  China, 
and  also  with  Corea,  there  should  have  continued  for  so 
long  a  time  such  complete  ignorance.  More  than  one  em- 
bassy had  resided  at  the  court  of  China  for  months.  The 
Chinese  annals  speak  of  an  embassy  during  the  reign  of 
the  Han  dynasty,  A.D.  238,  when  China  was  divided  into 
"three  kingdoms."  The  ruler  of  Woo,  one  of  these  three, 
proposed  to  invade  Japan,  but  the  expedition  miscarried. 
Nearly  two  centuries  before  this,  in  A.D.  57,  an  embassy 
was  sent  from  Japan  to  China  by  Sei  nin,  which  arrived  at 
the  court  of  Kwang  ou,  of  the  Eastern  Han  dynasty,  in  the 
last  year  of  his  reign.  It  is  unlikely  that,  residing  as  such 
an  embassy  must  have  done  for  a  considerable  time  at  the 
court  of  China,  they  should  not  have  brought  away  some 
knowledge  of  letters  or  some  instructors  in  reading  and 
writing.  This  Corean,  Onin,  may  have  been  brought  over 
to  replace  or  to  reteach  what  had  been  lost:  for  in  more 
recent  times  it  is  known  that,  after  the  long  civil  wars  of 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  so  little  attention  had 
been  given  to  the  instruction  of  youth  that  only  two  men 
were  found  in  the  empire  competent  to  teach  the  written 
language. 

We  may  be  permitted  to  believe  that  much  of  what  be- 
came tradition  had  at  one  time  been  committed  to  writing, 
and  that,  corroborated  as  it  is  at  some  points  by  Chinese  his- 
tory, there  is  a  foundation  for  much  of  that  part  of  history 
subsequent  to  the  time  of  Zinmu,  for  the  support  of  which 
there  existed,  when  writing  recommenced,  no  documentary 
evidence. 


22  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

THE   EMPEROR   OF   JAPAN 

The  line  of  gods  carried  on  through  godlike  mortal  de- 
scendants was  prolonged  in  ordinary  mortals,  the  first  of 
whom  was  Zinmu.  It  is  of  little  consequence  by  whom  this 
pedigree  was  written  or  invented.  It  evidently  was  solely 
written  for  the  then  de  facto  rulers  of  the  land.  It  does  not 
pretend  to  deal  with  the  people  of  Japan,  or  with  the  mode 
in  which  the  peopling  of  the  empire  took  place,  but  simply 
invents  and  details  a  divine  pedigree  for  one  family.  At 
the  time  when  this  family  is  first  heard  of,  the  islands  of 
Japan  are  acknowledged  by  Japanese  historians  to  have 
been  already  peopled  and  divided  into  villages,  each  under 
some  municipal  rule. 

The  reign  of  Zinmu  is  the  era  of  Japan,  and  is  placed 
at  667  years  before  Christ.  Setting  out  from  Miazaki  in 
Fiuga,  on  the  east  side  of  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  he  with 
troops  under  his  command  gradually  overran  that  island, 
and  the  adjoining  one  of  Sikok,  together  with  the  west  half 
of  the  island  of  Nippon,  as  far  as  the  province  of  Mino  to  the 
east  of  Miako.  Coming  from  the  most  rugged  and  compar- 
atively barren  province  in  the  empire,  he  was  attracted  by 
the  beauty  and  desirableness  of  the  country  around  Miako. 
He  settled  at  a  place  named  Kashiwarra  or  Kashiwabarra, 
a  site  near  the  city  of  Narra,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the 
present  capital.  This  choice  of  a  site  has  been  ratified  by 
every  succeeding  emperor,  the  Kio  or  capital  ("King,"  Chi- 
nese) of  the  empire  having  been  frequently  changed,  but 
never  removed  to  any  great  distance  from  the  spot  origi- 
nally selected  by  Zinmu. 

In  truth,  the  site  is  in  every  way  most  suitable  for  the 
capital  of  the  country.  It  is,  geographically,  nearly  in  the 
center  of  the  islands  which  constitute  the  empire.  From 
the  port  of  the  capital,  Osaca  (or  Naniwa,  as  it  was  named 
of  old),  a  great  fringe  of  the  coast  of  the  three  islands  in 
almost  landlocked  waters  is  accessible  to  ships  without  their 
venturing  into  the  open  sea.  To  this  port  a  large  body  of 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT. 

water  is  rolled  down  by  the  confluence  of  several  rivers, 
which  at  one  time  were  dispersed  into  several  mouths  and 
branches ;  but  by  labor  these  have  been  collected  and  con- 
fined within  two  outlets.  There  is,  in  consequence,  a  large 
extent  of  alluvial  ground  producing  rice  and  wheat  for  a 
numerous  population.  The  inland  water  communication  ex- 
tends to  the  large  lake  Owomi — upward  of  sixty  miles  in 
length  and  eighteen  in  breadth ;  and  thence,  with  an  inter- 
val of  a  few  miles  only  of  land-carriage,  to  the  port  of  Tsu- 
runga,  on  the  northern  coast;  while  to  the  southeast,  the 
natives  report  that  there  is  uninterrupted  water-communica- 
tion to  Owarri,  and  thence  to  Sinano,  and,  with  a  short  in- 
terval of  land-carriage,  even  to  Yedo — whence,  again,  it 
extends  northward  by  rivers  and  canals  to  the  vicinity  of 
Nambu.  The  city  of  Miako  of  the  present  day  stands  on  a 
plain,  among  hills  clothed  with  wood,  where  art  has  done 
what  it  could  to  assist  nature  in  the  completion  of  landscape 
scenery,  of  the  beauties  of  which  the  natives  speak  with  rap- 
ture. During  twenty-four  centuries,  members  of  the  family 
of  Zinmu  have  sat  upon  the  throne,  and  during  that  long 
time  the  palace  has  been  only  at  short  intervals  removed  to 
any  considerable  distance  from  the  site  on  which  it  at  pres- 
ent stands. 

The  imperial  residence  in  Japan  is  a  very  different  struc- 
ture from  anything  that  European  ideas  of  palaces  would 
expect,  being  chiefly  built  of  wood  and  other  materials  so 
inflammable  that  a  palace  has  been  reconstructed  and  de- 
stroyed within  a  year.  When  we  read  of  each  emperor,  at 
an  early  date,  building  a  palace  for  himself,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  these  were  either  expensive  or  very  durable 
buildings.  Each  emperor  seems  to  have  occupied  a  differ- 
ent habitation  from  his  predecessor,  removing  from  one  site 
to  another,  but  generally  keeping  within  the  province  of 
Yamashiro,  or  that  adjoining,  Yamato.  Kwanmu,  in  the 
year  794,  built  a  palace  on  the  site  where  the  present  city 
stands,  and  since  his  time  Miako  has  been  always  looked 
upon  as  the  metropolis. 


24  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

The  palace  of  the  Emperor  of  Japan  is  called,  as  a  whole, 
"Kinri  go  sho."  Though  built  of  fine  and  expensive  timber, 
it  presents  no  appearance  of  that  outward  splendor  which  is 
generally  considered  by  us  to  be  necessary  to  an  imperial 
residence.  The  roofs  of  the  buildings  are  said  to  be  white. 
It  is  surrounded  by  a  common  inclosure  of  wooden  boarding. 
This  inclosure  is  pierced  by  several  gates.  These  entrances 
are  graduated,  and  the  settlement  of  the  gate  by  which  a 
great  man  shall  make  his  entrance  or  his  exit  is  a  matter  of 
no  small  importance  at  court.  These  gates  lead  into  a  large 
open  space;  in  this  is  another  inclosure  (with  other  gates), 
in  the  center  of  which  stands  the  wooden  building,  the  ' '  Shi 
shin  deng, ' '  or  imperial  office,  in  which  the  emperor  receives 
the  highest  officers  of  the  empire.  This  he  appears  to  do 
almost  in  the  open  air.  The  emperor  does  not  sit  upon  a 
throne  or  chair,  but  is  slightly  raised  above  the  floor — three 
of  the  ordinary  mats  of  the  country,  and  placed  one  above 
the  other,  being  used  as  a  throne.  To  the  back  of  this  public 
office  is  the  residence  or  private  apartments  of  the  emperor ; 
and  behind  these  are  the  female  apartments  of  the  empress, 
the  empress-mother,  and  other  high  ladies. 

The  "Shi  shin  deng"  (Ch.  "Tsz  shin  tien")  faces  to  the 
south,  to  the  large  outer  gate,  the  "Yio  may  mong";  within 
this  is  another  gate  of  a  red  inclosure,  the  gate  of  the  sun, 
"Hi  no  go  mong."  On  passing  through  this,  the  large 
wooden-pillar-supported  hall,  with  its  roof  with  immense 
eaves,  is  seen  raised  from  the  ground  upon  a  lower  frame- 
work of  wood.  Before  it  stand  an  orange  and  a  cherry  tree. 
Between  these,  six  steps  lead  up  to  the  wooden  gallery  or 
veranda,  which  goes  round  the  hall  under  eaves  projecting 
five  or  six  feet  from  the  supports.  A  low  balustrade  sur- 
rounds this  veranda.  Under  this  large  canopy  of  roof,  al- 
most in  the  open  air,  the  Emperor  sits  while  he  receives 
homage.  The  "Shi  shin  deng"  occupies  the  red  inclosure, 
having  on  the  east  side  a  small  wooden  building  for  covering 
the  car  used  in  processions ;  to  the  east  of  that  is  the  building 
hi  which  the  "three  jewels"  are  kept,  the  "Naishi  dokoro." 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT.  25 

Within  the  "Shi  shin  deng"  all  extraordinary  formal  busi- 
ness of  importance  is  transacted.  The  Shiogoon  here  pre- 
sents himself  to  the  Emperor.  In  the  long  hall  to  the  west 
of  the  "Shi  shin  deng,"  the  "Say  rio  deng"  ("Tsing  Hang 
tien")  or  "Hiru  no  ma,"  the  mid-day  room,  ordinary  busi- 
ness is  transacted.  Immediately  in  the  rear  of  the  "Shi  shin 
deng"  is  the  "Nai  go  bansho,"  or  inner  hall  for  business. 
To  the  east  side,  and  overlooking  the  garden,  is  the  "Tsunay 
no  goteng,"  or  hall  of  meeting,  or  drawing-room.  Behind, 
in  the  "Ko  ngo  sho,"  the  Emperor's"  son  and  heir  lives;  here 
also  are  the  apartments  of  the  elder  women.  "Nanga  Hashi 
no  Tsubo  nay"  is  the  room  in  which  levees  are  held,  where 
rank  is  given,  and  degradations  or  punishments  are  awarded. 
Formerly  all  the  offices  of  the  different  departments  of  gov- 
ernment were  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  palace,  but  outside, 
at  a  distance  of  one  "cho,"  or  120  yards. 

At  the  back  of  all  are  the  female  apartments.  On  the 
east  side,  outside  of  the  inclosure,  is  the  Gakumonjo,  or 
imperial  school. 

To  the  southeast  of  the  whole  is  another  inclosure,  the 
"Ko  een  go  sho,"  the  palace  of  the  Emperor  after  he  has 
abdicated,  when  he  is  known  as  Kubo,  covering  a  space  of 
ground  nearly  as  large  as  the  palace  inclosure.  Adjoining 
this,  and  immediately  to  the  south,  is  the  residence  of  the 
father  or  predecessor  of  the  abdicated  emperor.  He  is  known 
as  Sento  (Tsin  tung).  To  the  southwest  is  that  of  the  em- 
press dowager,  and  the  females  of  the  old  emperor's  court. 
The  Shi  sin  wo,  or  four  royal  families,  are  located  in  the 
neighborhood,  while  all  around  are  the  residences,  with  in- 
closures  of  ground,  belonging  to  the  "Go  sekkay,"  or  "five 
assisting"  families.  Among  these  also  is  found  a  small 
inclosure,  the  residence  of  the  Sho  shi  dai,  the  envoy  of  the 
Shiogoon  at  the  imperial  court. 

Except  the  greater  elevation  and  whiteness  of  the  roofs, 
there  is  nothing  to  distinguish  the  palace  from  the  adjacent 
streets.  That  the  Emperor  should  be  thus  housed  probably 
involves  a  great  state  principle.  The  houses  of  Daimios  and 

2 


26  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

high  officers  are  built  in  a  much  more  durable  manner.  The 
Shiogoou's  residences  at  Osaka,  Miako,  Yedo,  and  other 
places,  are  generally  built  more  like  fortifications  or  places 
of  great  strength.  In  similar  style  are  raised  the  houses, 
palaces  or  forts  of  the  Daimios  in  their  respective  provinces. 
It  cannot,  therefore,  be  from  any  fear  of  earthquakes  that 
this  style  of  a  plain  wood-and-paper  house  is  adopted,  but  it 
is  probably  founded  on  the  same  principle  as  that  on  which 
the  imperial  pedigree  is  drawn  up;  viz.,  with  the  view  of 
giving  to  it  the  appearance  of  a  temple,  and  surrounding  the 
Emperor  with  the  circumstances  and  attributes  of  a  god. 

This  palace  in  Miako  appears  to  be  the  only  one  now  used 
by  the  Emperor.  He  is  supposed  to  move  from  it  temporarily 
only  upon  rare  occasions.  "When  he  is  obliged  to  change  his 
residence,  as  when  the  palace  is  burned  down,  he  occupies 
apartments  in  some  one  of  the  many  temples  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Any  display  of  splendor  in  building  is  reserved 
for  the  Shiogoon,  who  has  several  palaces  of  great  size  and 
strength,  as  at  Miako,  Osaka,  Fusimi,  Yedo,  Kofoo,  Soonpoo, 
all  of  which  are  laid  out  on  the  plan  of  forts,  and  built  with 
a  view  to  defense  from  military  attacks. 

It  has  been  stated,  and  often  repeated,  that  the  Emperor 
of  Japan  sits  on  a  throne  all  day  without  moving  his  hands, 
or  even  his  eyes;  that  he  is  treated  as  a  god,  and  that  his 
subjects  believe  that  the  empire  totters  if  he  is  unsteady. 
These  are  the  exaggerations  of  the  lower  classes.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  he  is  treated  with  the  greatest  reverence 
and  respect — that  he  is,  as  it  were,  an  ideal  abstraction,  a 
thing  apart,  necessary  to  the  empire — that  he  is  the  Lord's 
anointed,  and  not  to  be  touched,  and  that  no  subject,  how- 
ever great  he  may  be,  or  however  firmly  he  may  have 
grasped  the  power  of  the  empire  in  the  convulsions  of  a 
revolutionary  period,  may  contemplate  placing  himself  upon 
that  seat ;  and  we  shall  find  that  two  of  the  greatest  men 
who  rose  to  the  highest  power  did  not  dare  to  take  such  a 
step,  though  one,  and  perhaps  both,  proposed  it  to  himself, 
and  broached  the  idea  to  his  followers.  Though  Nobunanga 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT.  27 

set  up  a  representation  of  himself  to  be  worshiped,  he  did 
not  set  aside  the  Emperor;  and  though  Taikosama  proposed 
to  depose  the  Emperor,  his  followers  would  not  allow  it,  or  at 
least  dissuaded  him  from  making  the  attempt.  Still  the  Em- 
peror is  not  altogether  looked  upon  as  the  spiritual  being  he 
is  generally  represented  in  modern  books.  Indeed,  in  the 
first  periods  of  the  history  of  the  country  the  head  of  the  em- 
pire was  the  commander,  the  leader  of  the  army.  Zinmu 
led  his  army  to  victory;  and  long  after  him  the  Empress 
Jinku  Kogoo  led  her  army  into  Corea.  Her  son  Osin,  better 
known  by  his  posthumous  title  of  Hatchimang,  was  at  the 
head  of  his  army.  But  where  there  is  no  enemy  to  fight, 
the  post  of  commander-in-chief  soon  falls  into  abeyance. 
Japan  has  long  been  in  this  position — of  having  no  enemy  to 
watch  or  to  attack.  Such  a  position  entails,  almost  of  neces- 
sity, the  creation  of  a  duality  or  double  power.  The  weak 
condition  to  which  the  imperial  court  descended,  after  it  had 
been  denuded  of  its  power,  and  after  the  command  of  its 
armies  had  fallen  from  the  hands  of  scions  of  the  blood-royal 
into  those  of  other  families,  was  followed  by  convulsions, 
civil  wars,  and  bloodshed,  till  the  people  returned  to  a  state 
of  ignorance,  and  the  fields  to  barrenness;  but  this  seems 
only  a  consequence  of  having  no  enemy,  no  near  neighbor 
with  whom,  by  a  process  of  constant  watching  and  battling, 
as  in  Europe,  the  sinews  of  a  nation  are  strengthened,  and 
national  feeling  is  concentrated  into  a  unity. 

The  annals  of  the  emperors  show  that,  for  long  after  the 
time  of  Zinmu,  his  successors  took  an  active  part  in  the  poli- 
tics, the  wars,  and  the  intrigues  of  the  state.  It  is  not  a 
matter  of  wonder  that  the  hands  which  held  the  scepter 
should  have  become  feeble  during  the  fierce  civil  wars  which 
raged  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  country  would  seem 
to  have  been  driven  by  necessity  to  have  two  emperors — or, 
at  least,  two  opposing  interests;  and  when  the  hereditary 
commander-in-chief  had  in  turn  become  a  nonentity,  one 
adventurer  after  another  started  up — first,  Nobunanga;  sec- 
ondly, Taikosama;  thirdly,  lyeyas,  all  able  men.  The  first 


28  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

battled  with  the  Buddhist  priesthood,  the  second  turned  his 
arms  against  Corea,  the  third,  the  ablest  of  all,  devised  that 
dual  system  of  seemingly  divided  empire,  by  which  the  power 
of  the  executive  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Shiogoon  at 
Yedo,  while  the  source  or  fountain  of  honors  remained  with 
the  Emperor  in  Miako.  The  configuration  of  the  islands  pre- 
vents their  being  cut  into  two  empires;  it  remained  for  lyeyas 
to  devise  a  dual  system  by  which  peace  has  been  preserved 
in  a  remarkable  way  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

As  to  the  titles  by  which  the  Emperor  is  known,  these  are 
drawn  in  most  part  from  the  Chinese,  and  denote,  in  lan- 
guage suited  to  Oriental  ideas,  the  illustrious  position  which 
he  holds.  The  names  express  the  idea  that  he  reigns  by 
divine  right.  The  oldest  of  these  titles  seems  to  be  Mikoto. 
This  is  a  Japanese  word  meaning  "venerable,"  and  trans- 
lated into  Chinese,  "tsun."  The  word  Mikado  is  more  com- 
monly used  now,  and  is  translated  by  the  Chinese  "Ti,"  or 
emperor.  The  word  "  O"  or  "  Wo' '  is  the  Chinese  ' '  Wang, ' ' 
emperor;  and  the  word  "ten,"  or  heaven,  is  commonly 
added— "Ten  wo,"  the  heavenly  ruler;  or  the  combination 
"Owo,"  or  "Oho- wo,"  meaning  the  great  ruler,  in  which 
sense  "Dai-wo"  is  also  used.  "Tenshi"  is  the  "tien-tsi"  of 
China,  the  son  of  heaven.  "O-ooji,"  the  great  family,  is 
sometimes  applied  to  the  Emperor.  The  common  people  talk 
of  the  Emperor  as  "Miyako  sama,"  in  contradistinction  to 
"Yedo  sama,"  the  Shiogoon,  the  Lord  of  Yedo.  "Ooyay- 
sama,"  or  the  superior  lord,  is  also  used.  "Dairi,"  made 
up  of  two  Chinese  words  signifying  the  inner  court  or  "the 
interior,"  is  equivalent  to  the  word  "the  court"  in  English, 
and  seems  to  include  the  residences  of  the  royal  families  and 
higher  nobility.  It  is,  however,  sometimes  applied  to  the 
Emperor  himself,  and  sometimes  to  the  palace  as  a  building. 
The  first  word,  "dai"  is  written  both  "great,"  £a,  and  "in- 
ner," nai.  The  latter  seems  the  more  common.  "Gosho" 
is  a  word  sometimes  applied  to  the  palace,  at  others  to  the 
Emperor  and  the  government.  The  word  "in,"  or  "een," 
is  a  Buddhist  word,  added  to  the  posthumous  name  of  some 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  29 

of  the  deceased  emperors  instead  of  "Ten  wo."  In  addition 
to  these,  other  names  are  used,  as  "Kwo  tei,"  or  ruler  of  the 
people,  "Chokku,"  etc. 

From  the  earliest  period  in  the  history  of  Japan,  mention 
is  made  of  three  things  which  necessarily  appertain  to  the 
person  who  sits  upon  the  throne.  They  seem  to  be  looked 
on  as  symbols  of  the  imperial  power,  as  palladia  of  the  em- 
pire. In  one  of  the  treatises  upon  the  Emperor's  court  it  is 
said  of  these  mysterious  emblems:  "In  that  early  time  the 
heaven-illuminating  god  arrived  at  Kashiwabarra,  then  the 
capital,  and  placed  an  eight-cubit  mirror  and  a  grass-shaving 
sword  in  the  palace,  on  the  throne  of  the  Emperor,  and  these 
received  such  homage  as  was  rendered  in  the  early  times. 
The  efficacy  of  the  god  was  very  great,  so  that  the  Emperor, 
dwelling  with  this  god  (these  divine  symbols),  was,  as  it 
were,  equal  to  a  god.  Within  the  palace  these  things  were 
laid  up,  that  the  divine  power  might  remain  wherever  these 
things  were.  At  that  time  (two  high  officers)  regulated  the 
sacrificial  rites  and  ceremonies  until  the  tenth  emperor,  who, 
f earing  the  sacredness  of  the  divine  presence,  took  these  two 
efficacious  symbols,  the  sword  and  the  mirror,  and  put  them 
away  in  another  place,  which  was  the  origin  of  the  idea  of 
the  Emperor  sitting  like  a  god  in  the  place  of  a  god. ' ' 

In  this  quotation  only  two  things  are  mentioned — the 
sword  and  the  mirror.  A  third  is  spoken  of  sometimes  as  a 
ball  of  crystal,  at  others  as  a  seal,  "sinji."  Klaproth  calls 
it  a  ball  of  greenstone  with  two  small  round  holes.  The 
three  things  go  by  the  name  of  "Sanjioo  no  jinji."  During 
the  long  and  bloody  wars  between  the  emperors  of  the  north 
and  south,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  former,  who  resided 
in  Miako,  and  finally  established  himself  on  the  throne,  was 
not  considered  incontestably  emperor  until  he  obtained  pos- 
session of  these  three  sacred  symbols.  Though  the  emperor 
of  the  south  was  hard  pressed,  and  almost  a  refugee  in  the 
mountains,  he  kept  possession  of  them,  and  finally  concluded 
a  truce,  delivering  them  up  to  his  opponent,  emperor  de 
facto.  On  one  occasion  the  three  precious  jewels  were  stolen, 


30  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

and  after  being  kept  several  months  were  recovered  or  sent 
back.  On  several  occasions  they  have  narrowly  escaped 
destruction  by  fire,  and  in  the  year  1040  A.D.  the  mirror  was 
broken  by  the  heat;  but  the  pieces  were  recognized  and 
placed  together.  "Within  the  last  few  years  (in  1851)  they 
were  again  nearly  exposed  to  a  similar  chance  of  destruction, 
but  were  saved  by  Hoongay  Hashimoto,  who  brought  them 
out  at  the  risk  of  his  life. 

In  Japan  it  is  usual  to  perform  a  ceremony  at  the  time 
when  the  boy  assumes  the  toga  virilis  and  becomes  a  man. 
The  age  at  which  this  takes  place  is  not  settled,  and  seems 
to  vary  from  the  tenth  to  the  fifteenth  year.  The  eldest  son 
of  the  Emperor  undergoes  this  operation  (known  as  "Gem- 
buko";  Ch.,  "yuen  fuh")  about  the  age  of  ten  or  eleven, 
when  he,  according  to  the  custom,  receives  a  new  name. 
His  hair  is  shaved  off  in  the  manner  usual  with  men,  and  he 
assumes  a  dress.  In  all  families  the  occasion  is  an  important 
one,  and  in  the  case  of  the  son  of  the  Emperor,  the  heir- 
apparent,  it  becomes  national.  At  the  inauguration  of  the 
Emperor  (according  to  Klaproth)  his  height  is  measured  with 
a  bamboo,  which  is  deposited  in  one  of  the  great  temples  in 
the  province  of  Isse  until  his  death,  when  it  is  removed  to 
another,  and  revered  as  a  spirit.  With  the  bamboo  of  the 
reigning  Emperor  are  deposited  a  straw-hat,  a  grass  rain- 
mantle,  and  a  spade,  emblems  of  agriculture,  held  in  Japan 
as  an  occupation  second  only  to  that  of  the  soldier. 

The  Emperor  is  said  to  have  his  eyebrows  shaved,  and  to 
blacken  his  teeth  every  morning,  which  operation  is  effected 
by  a  mixture  of  sulphate  of  iron  and  some  astringent  bark. 
The  state  dresses  of  the  Emperor  are  generally  of  very  rich 
strong  silk  of  a  bright  green  color.  The  shape,  the  color,  the 
pattern  are  all  fixed,  and  not  left  to  choice.  His  under  gar- 
ments are  of  white  silk,  and  called  "mookoo";  and  this  is 
the  part  of  his  dress  which  he  never  wears  twice.  Besides 
being  changed  every  morning,  there  are  other  occasions  dur- 
ing the  day  in  which  necessity  demands  a  change.  These 
white  silk  dresses  are  the  perquisites  of  one  of  the  servants, 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  31 

and  are  sold  by  him  in  Miako.  The  Emperor  always  uses 
cold  water  for  bathing.  The  cups  which  he  uses  for  his 
meals  are  also  broken ;  but  when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  style  of  eating  requires  only  one  cup, 
and  this  perhaps  not  a  very  expensive  one,  the  total  does  not 
amount  to  a  large  sum  in  the  annual  budget.  He  is  said  to 
devote  his  time  to  business  matters,  with  discussions  upon 
history,  laws,  and  religion.  In  times  past  he  has  taken  but 
little  part  in  the  business  of  the  country;  but  his  share  in 
this  is  every  year  upon  the  increase,  and  he  is  courted  by 
those  who  see  in  what  direction  political  power  is  tending. 
The  power  of  conferring  titles  and  rank  may  have  given  him 
an  amount  of  occupation  and  an  acquaintance  with  mankind 
which  would  hardly  leave  him  the  nonentity  he  has  gener- 
ally been  described.  Twelve  days  of  the  month  are  set  apart 
for  conversations  and  discussions  upon  the  history,  laws,  and 
religion  of  Japan.  Such  spare  time  as  he  has  is  devoted  to 
the  composition  of  poetry,  with  music  and  chess.  The  Em- 
peror is  supposed  to  move  out  of  his  palace  and  the  grounds 
and  gardens  adjoining  only  twice  a  year — once  during  spring, 
and  once  in  autumn — when  he  goes  in  a  covered  car,  inclosed 
by  semi-transparent  screens  of  bamboo,  drawn  by  large  bul- 
locks, to  visit  the  environs  of  Miako.  This  procession  is 
known  as  "Miyuki"  or  "Gokowo." 

On  this  state  procession  the  Emperor  is  accompanied  by 
all  the  high  officers  in  Miako.  He  does  not  always  strictly 
adhere  to  this  rule  of  seclusion,  however.  Twenty-five  years 
ago  Kokaku  was  in  the  practice  of  walking  about  the  town 
with  his  son,  afterward  Jin-ko,  dressed  like  a  common  man. 
The  excuse  for  this  was  that  his  palace  was  being  rebuilt, 
after  having  been  burned  down.  After  the  Emperor  has 
abdicated  no  restrictions  are  placed  upon  him. 

The  Emperor,  like  the  majority  of  his  countrymen,  is  a 
vegetarian  in  his  diet,  and,  in  addition,  only  eats  fish.  At 
one  time  such  animal  food  as  venison  was  considered  fit  for 
royalty;  but  the  story  goes  that  the  Emperor  Ssu-jio  heard 
one  evening  a  doe  crying  plaintively  for  her  mate.  On  the 


32  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

succeeding  morning  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  some 
venison  for  his  breakfast  was  the  missing  lover;  and,  ever 
since,  venison  has  not  been  included  among  the  dainties  of 
the  royal  kitchen.  In  his  time  the  Emperor  and  all  his  court 
began  to  wear  the  stiff-starched  ample  robes  still  used,  and 
the  long  "kio"  or  train,  which  was  introduced  to  prevent  the 
feet  of  the  retreating  courtiers  being  seen.  On  leaving  the 
presence  of  the  Emperor,  officers  walk  backward  on  their 
knees. 

Some  writers  have  alleged  that  the  Emperor  is  looked 
upon  as  a  god,  and  that  the  people  think  that  he  goes  in  the 
eleventh  month  to  the  meeting  of  the  spirits,  the  "kami." 
This  meeting  is  believed  by  the  lower  classes  in  Japan  to  take 
place  during  the  eleventh  month  in  the  province  of  Idzumo, 
at  the  temple  of  Oyashiro,  which  temple  is  thus  honored 
because  the  first  spirit  dwelt  there.  At  this  meeting  the 
spirits  arrange  the  sublunary  and  mundane  business  of  Japan 
for  the  subsequent  eleven  months.  The  inhabitants  of  Id- 
zumo call  this  month  "Kami  ari  tski,"  or  the  spirit  month. 
All  the  other  provinces  call  it  "Kami  nashi  tski,"  the  month 
without  spirits.  The  Emperor  is  supposed  to  be  above  all  the 
kami  or  spirits,  inasmuch  as  he  can  confer  honors  upon  the 
dead;  but  he  is  not  looked  upon  as  above  the  "Tento  sama," 
or  Lord  of  heaven,  showing  that  a  lower  position  is  assigned 
to  the  kami  (or  "Shin"  of  the  Chinese)  than  to  the  highest 
deity.  But  no  one  of  any  ordinary  education  in  Japan  be- 
lieves that  the  Emperor  goes  to  this  meeting  of  spirits ;  these 
ideas,  like  many  others  similar  in  China,  are  only  current 
among  the  least  educated  of  the  people.  During  this  month, 
when  the  spirits  are  so  occupied,  none  of  those  ceremonies  in 
which  their  assistance  must  be  invoked,  such  as  marriages, 
adoptions,  etc.,  take  place;  no  prayers  are  offered,  as  the 
spirits  are  supposed  to  be  engaged.  At  this  meeting  they 
arrange  all  the  marriages  which  are  to  take  place  during  the 
ensuing  year.  Each  individual  in  this  world,  male  and 
female,  is  supposed  to  have  a  thread  of  existence,  "yeng." 
The  spirits  take  the  pairs  of  threads  of  those  who  are  to  be 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT.  33 

joined  in  martimony  and  knot  them  together.  So  we  speak 
of  marriages  being  made  in  heaven  while  the  hymeneal  knot 
is  tied  on  earth.  From  this  the  month  is  called  "Yeng 
moosoobi  tski" — i.e.,  Tie-the-knot  month. 

Abdication  from  positions  of  active  life  is  very  common 
among  all  ranks  in  Japan.  No  position  seems  to  be  more 
easily  renounced  than  that  of  the  occupation  of  the  throne. 
In  a  country  where  the  heir  may  have  the  misfortune  to  be 
brought  up  in  the  lap  of  luxury,  and  amid  sensual  excite- 
ments and  indulgences  of  every  kind,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  irksomeness  of  his  position  should  make  the  holder  sigh 
to  be  relieved  from  it,  or  that  vigor  of  mind  or  body  is  only 
to  be  found  in  those  cases  where,  the  heir-apparent  having 
been  cut  off,  the  successor  has  been  adopted  at  a  late  period 
of  his  life,  having  been  reared  without  the  expectation  of 
subsequent  elevation.  After  the  Emperor  has  abdicated  he 
is  named  "Tai  sho  ten  wo" — equivalent  to  "His  most  exalted 
and  sacred  Majesty."  At  the  present  day,  upon  his  taking 
this  step,  should  he  devote  himself  to  religion  and  become 
"Fo  wo,"  his  head  is  shaved,  and  he  retires  to  a  monastic 
life,  and  generally  occupies  the  temple  Ninaji  or  Omuro  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Miako. 

The  Japanese  are  unostentatious  in  their  customs,  and 
in  the  treatment  of  their  great  ones  after  death  are  singularly 
undemonstrative.  Considering  that  all  the  rites  connected 
with  the  dead  are  after  the  Buddhist  ritual,  and  that  the 
Chinese  devote  so  much  money  and  soil  to  the  tombs  and 
monuments  of  their  ministers  and  great  men  and  women, 
something  of  the  same  veneration  might  be  expected  in 
Japan.  But,  on  the  contrary,  the  tombs  are  generally  very 
small  unpretending  structures,  consisting  of  a  basement, 
upon  which  a  single  stone  is  erected  of  no  great  size.  Such 
is  the  tomb  of  Yoritomo,  the  great  hero,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Kamakura;  and  such,  we  are  told,  are  the  tombs  of  the 
emperors.  They  are  covered  over  with  a  roofing  of  straw, 
to  keep  before  their  countrymen  and  subjects  the  remem- 
brance of  their  primeval  simplicity. 


34  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

As  Jbo  the  succession  to  the  throne,  the  laws  or  regula- 
tions in  Japan  do  not  seem  to  be  very  decided.  The  fre- 
quent abdication  of  the  ruler  gives  the  opportunity  for  secur- 
ing that  his  successor  shall  have  all  the  weight  and  assistance 
that  the  predecessor  can  give  to  overcome  the  pretensions  of 
rival  claimants.  When  the  death  of  the  Emperor  has  sud- 
denly left  the  throne  vacant,  the  eldest  son  is  supposed  to 
be  the  rightful  heir.  But  when,  as  frequently  has  hap- 
pened, his  mind  and  body  have  been  enfeebled  by  dissipa- 
tion, and  he  has  neither  wit  nor  vigor  to  seize  the  reins  of 
power,  he  has  too  often  been  supplanted  by  the  ambition 
of  a  brother,  or  a  wife  of  his  father.  When  the  Emperor 
leaves  only  a  daughter,  she  is  married  to  a  member  of  the 
four  imperial  families,  and  her  husband  hi  that  case  becomes 
Emperor.  In  reality,  the  most  powerful  party  about  the 
court,  when  any  difficulty  occurs,  puts  in  and  supports  the 
member  of  the  imperial  family  meet  favorable  to  their  con- 
tinuing in  power. 

The  genealogy  of  the  Emperors  is  considered  true  and 
authentic  as  published  in  the  Red  Book  of  the  empire ;  the 
pedigree  of  the  Shiogoon  is  looked  upon  as  made  up.  The 
former  is  to  be  found  fully  detailed  from  native  sources  in 
the  works  of  Klaproth  and  Ksempfer.  The  "Oon  jo  may 
rang"  is  the  title  of  a  small  .book  giving  the  pedigrees  and 
crests  of  the  Emperor's  family,  and  of  the  koongays  or  nobil- 
ity. Two  crests  or  coats-of-arms  are  used  by  the  Emperor 
— the  one,  "kiku,"  for  outside  imperial  government  busi- 
ness, like  the  flower  of  a  chrysanthemum,  with  sixteen 
petals;  the  other,  the  "kiri,"  is  used  for  the  palace  mat- 
ters personal  to  the  Emperor  and  his  family.  No  notice 
seems  to  be  taken  of  the  common  assumption  of  the  impe- 
rial crest,  but  no  one  dares  to  use  the  crest  of  the  Shiogoon 
except  by  permission. 

The  following  sayings  give  some  idea  of  the  reverence 
with  which  the  Emperor  is  spoken  of:  "Mikado  ni  ooji 
nashi,"  is  a  saying  to  express  that  the  Emperor  is  of  no 
family.  "Tenshi  foo  bo  nashi" — "The  Emperor  has  neither 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT.  35 

father  nor  mother."  "In  heaven  there  is  one  sun,  on  earth 
there  is  one  Emperor,"  is  a  Confucian  saying  in  accordance 
with  the  ideas  of  the  country.  "O  wo  wa  jiu  zenn,  kami 
wa  ku  zenn" — ''The  power  of  the  Emperor  is  as  ten,  that  of 
the  gods  as  nine";  implying  that  more  reverence  is  due  to 
the  Emperor  than  to  the  lesser  spirits,  and  that  he  has  more 
power.  "The  Emperor  all  men  respect,  the  Shiogoon  all 
men  fear."  "Heaven  is  his  father,  earth  is  his  mother,  his 
friends  are  the  sun  and  moon."  Such  ideas  are  taken  from 
the  Chinese  classics. 

The  Emperor  marries  one  wife,  who  is  the  Empress.  He 
is  allowed  by  the  laws  of  the  country  to  take  twelve  concu- 
bines, who  are  generally  the  daughters  of  the  poorer  nobil- 
ity. The  throne  can  be,  and  has  frequently  been,  occupied 
by  a  female.  The  Emperor  is  supposed  to  receive,  as  an 
allowance  from  the  Shiogoon,  100,000  kobangs,  equal  to 
$350,000  per  annum.  This  he  receives  from  the  Yedo  gov- 
ernment, but  he  probably  has  a  large  revenue  from  land  in 
the  "Go  ki  nai"  or  "Go  ka  koku,"  or  five  provinces.  He 
is  said  to  complain  of  the  duties  from  foreign  trade  not  being 
paid  into  his  treasury,  inasmuch  as  when  the  trade  was  con- 
ducted formerly  by  the  Portuguese  at  Sakkye,  the  Emperor 
received  the  duties;  but  as  Yokuhama  is  out  of  the  Gokinai, 
the  Shiogoon  prefers  that  the  duties  should  flow  to  Yedo. 
-These  five  provinces  are  frequently  spoken  of  by  the  writers 
of  the  sixteenth  century  as  the  Tensee— heavenly  or  sacred 
soil.  They  are  Yamashiro,  Yamato,  Setsu,  Kaawdsio,  and 
Idzumi.  The  whole  empire  is  spoken  of,  as  in  China,  as  all 
under  heaven — "Tenka." 

Two  officers  in  the  Emperor's  palace  are  appointed  from 
Yedo — two  Hattamoto,  or  inferior  barons — to  superintend 
the  disbursement  of  money,  and  to  keep  accounts  of  the 
money  paid  by  the  Shiogoon 's  government.  These  men 
have  fifty  soldiers  under  them.  Under  them  are  nine  "To- 
ritsungi,"  generally  men  of  some  rank  and  position. 

The  Emperor's  own  private  establishment  consists  of  the 
following  officers : 


36  HISTORY.    OF  JAPAN. 

1.  Makanye  Kashira,  generally  a  Hattamoto,  who  keeps 
the  accounts  of  the  imperial  table  and  pays  the  money. 

2.  Kye  mon  tskye,  called  "Kimsakye,"  two  Hattamoto, 
who  go  to  buy  the  provisions  for  the  palace. 

3.  Go  zembang,  six  men,  whose  business  is  to  examine 
the  Emperor's  food. 

4.  Shuri  siki,  five  men,  to  look  after  the  buildings;  gen- 
erally Miako  men  of  old  families. 

5.  Makanye  kata,  six  men,  whose  duty  is  to  say  what, 
and  how  much,  is  to  be  purchased  for  the  palace. 

6.  Gim  miakoo  and  Itamoto — of  the  former  three,  of  the 
latter  seventeen — head  cooks  and  ordinary  cooks. 

7.  Kangay  bang,  keepers  of  the  keys,  seven  men. 

8.  Sosha  bang,  messengers. 

9.  Tskye  bang  or  Kashira,  three  men,  lower  messengers. 
These  are  all  given  in  the  official  list  as  the  ordinary 

household  in  daily  attendance  on  the  emperor. 

After  his  death  an  honorific  title  is  given  to  the  deceased 
Emperor,  by  which  he  is  subsequently  known  in  history. 

THE  SHI   SINWO,   OR  FOUR   IMPERIAL   FAMILIES 

The  "Shi  sinwo"  ("sz  tsan  wang")  are  "four  imperial 
relatives,"  or  royal  families  of  Japan.  This  name  denotes 
four  families  of  imperial  descent  set  apart,  with  allotted  resi- 
dences and  revenues,  as  supporters  to  the  imperial  family. 
The  families  are  cadets  of  the  royal  line  descended  from 
junior  branches.  From  among  the  members  of  these  four 
families,  in  case  of  failure  of  male  heirs  of  the  body,  an  heir 
to  the  throne,  or  a  husband  to  the  Princess  Imperial,  is  to 
be  sought. 

In  Japan  all  ranks  are  under  laws  more  or  less  strict,  and 
from  such  the  imperial  family  does  not  escape.  The  succes- 
sion to  the  throne,  at  all  times  an  object  in  Eastern  countries 
for  daring  ambition  to  aim  at,  and  a  fruitful  source  of  revo- 
lution and  misery  to  the  people,  is  regulated  and  guarded 
in  Japan  on  a  basis  wide  enough  to  secure  a  succession,  and 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  37 

preserved  by  such  safeguards  as  to  put  it  out  of  the  power 
of  collaterals  to  hope  for  success  from  intriguing  ambition. 
One  of  these  safeguards  is  supposed  to  be  in  the  Emperor's 
being  allowed  to  take  twelve  concubines  over  and  above  his 
lawful  wife,  the  Empress.  These  are  generally  daughters  of 
men  of  high  rank  about  the  court,  and  the  son  of  any  one 
of  them,  if  there  is  no  son  by  the  Empress,  may  succeed.  If 
there  be  a  daughter,  she  marries  one  of  the  members  of  these 
four  families,  and  he  becomes  Emperor.  Jinko,  the  father 
of  the  late  Emperor,  succeeded  in  this  way.  His  father, 
Kokaku,  was  a  member  of  the  royal  Kunnin  family,  and 
married  the  only  daughter  of  the  Emperor,  and  so  became 
Emperor.  He  had  a  concubine,  the  daughter  of  Koongay 
Kwadjooji.  The  wife  and  the  concubine  had  each  one  son. 
Satchay  no  mia  was  the  son  of  the  wife,  and  heir-apparent 
to  the  throne.  But  the  concubine  was  a  fierce,  jealous 
woman,  and  determined  that  her  son  should  succeed,  and 
she  poisoned  Satchay.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  Shiogoon's 
envoy,  Sakkye,  to  inquire  into  the  reports  that  were  circu- 
lating; and  having  done  so,  he  discovered  the  truth,  and 
put  the  concubine  into  confinement.  But,  though  the  Em- 
peror was  much  distressed,  he  loved  her  too  well  and  insisted 
on  her  being  released.  The  government  at  Yedo  heard  of 
what  had  happened,  and  required  the  envoy  to  give  his  rea- 
sons for  releasing  her,  when  she  had  committed  so  heinous 
a  crime.  He  committed  suicide.  Her  son,  Jinko,  it  is  said, 
always  paid  the  Empress  the  greatest  respect,  and  would 
never  see  his  own  mother  afterward. 

But  even  with  this  wide  matrimonial  basis  allowed  to 
the  Emperor,  there  may  be  a  failure  of  heirs  direct.  These 
four  families  are  therefore  established  as  a  further  safeguard 
to  the  succession. 

They  take  their  names  from  collateral  branches  of  the 
imperial  house,  being  originally  the  families  of  younger  sons 
of  previous  Emperors.  At  present  there  are  only  two  fami- 
lies of  Sinwo,  two  having  become  extinct  by  failure  of  heirs. 
They  are,  however,  only  dormant,  as  it  is  a  part  of  the  policy 


38  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

of  the  state  that  these  families  should  be  in  existence,  and  it 
is  in  the  power  of  the  Emperor  to  put  one  of  his  sons  into,  as 
it  were,  the  extinct  family — that  is,  to  call  him  by  the  name 
and  give  him  the  revenues  belonging  to  the  house,  which 
revenues  have  been  accruing  until  the  family  is  re-established. 

The  four  families  are  called  collectively  Shi  (four)  sin  (re- 
lations) wo  (imperial).  The  sons  of  these  families  are  called 
Sinwo  O'nkatta,  or  O'nkatta  sama  [O'nkatta  is  used  as  an 
address  of  respect  to  ladies,  and  also  to  Sinwo  and  high  offi- 
cers in  personal  attendance  on  the  Emperor],  and  from  these 
sons  a  successor  to  the  Emperor  may  be  taken. 

The  names  of  the  four  "families"  are — 1,  Fusimi;  2, 
Arisungawa;  3,  Katsura;  4,  Kunnin.  Of  these  the  two  last 
are  the  dormant  houses.  The  revenues  of  these  two  houses 
are  managed  by  factors  or  agents,  and  the  fourth  is  said  to 
be  very  wealthy. 

The  heads  of  the  two  existing  families  are : 

1.  Fusimi  no  mia,  who  has  a  nominal  revenue  of  1,016 
koku  *  of  rice ;  but  he  has  probably  twenty  or  thirty  thou- 
sand koku.  The  present  man  is  a  Koboong  of  Jinko  the  late 
Emperor. 

This  "boong"  is  a  voluntary  union  between  two  persons, 
and  is  quite  different  from  adoption.  It  is  more  of  the  char- 
acter of  a  Masonic  connection.  In  the  relation  of  a  child  he 
is  called  Koboong;  of  a  father,  Oyaboong;  of  brothers  or 
sisters,  Kiodaiboong :  and  this  connection  is  a  very  common 
tie  between  two  individuals  in  Japan,  as  well  as  in  China, 
to  help  and  assist  each  other.  It  runs  through  all  ranks  and 
both  sexes.  It  is  a  connection  which  may  be  as  easily  sev- 
ered as  it  is  made,  but  it  is  often  strictly  adhered  to.  It  is 


*  The  koku,  or  "stone,"  contains  5.13  bushels;  is  the  meas- 
ure by  which  revenue  is  estimated;  is  the  standard  value  of 
the  country;  and  is  generally  considered  equivalent  to  one 
gold  kobang.  The  only  invariable  standard  of  value  in  the 
world  is  the  average  amount  of  food  that  will  suffice  to  keep 
a  man  in  health — a  pound  varies,  the  other  does  not. 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  39 

generally  made  by  drinking  formally  out  of  the  same  cup, 
each  taking  half  of  the  liquor.  It  may  be  severed  by  cut- 
ting off  the  queue,  or  simply  by  formally  intimating  that  it 
is  at  an  end. 

2.  Arisungawa  Nakatskasa  no  kio,  or  head  of  the  Cen- 
tral Board.     His  nominal  income  is  1,000  koku,  but  his  real 
revenue  is  much  larger. 

3.  Katsura;  the  revenue  is  3,006  koku. 

4.  Kunnin;  the  revenue  is  nominally  1,006  koku. 

In  these  families  there  is  generally  a  sufficient  number 
from  among  whom  to  select  a  successor  in  case  of  the  death, 
or  what  seems  more  common  in  Japan,  the  abdication  and 
retirement,  of  the  Emperor.  But,  at  the  same  time,  the 
arrangement  has  its  disadvantages.  It  places  a  number  of 
men  and  women  of  all  ages  in  a  very  high  position,  with 
apparently  no  occupation  for  their  leisure  time.  These  men 
might  become  troublesome  in  the  state  by  carrying  on  in- 
trigues for  their  own  advancement  and  for  the  gratification 
of  their  ambition.  "Within  the  last  few  years  much  dis- 
quietude has  been  caused  by  one  of  the  Sinwo  engaging  in 
intrigues  to  upset  the  reigning  Emperor.  A  means  has  been 
arrived  at  for  at  once  giving  these  persons  income,  business, 
position,  and  at  the  same  time  getting  them  out  of  the  way. 

The  Buddhist  priesthood  was  at  one  time  a  very  powerful 
element  in  the  country.  The  number  of  priests  was  very 
great,  and  the  revenues  of  the  monasteries  were  enormous. 
By  their  wealth,  and  from  among  their  vassals,  they  were 
able  to  keep  up  a  respectable  army ;  and  not  by  their  vassals 
alone — the  priests  themselves  filled  the  ranks.  The  different 
sects  built  magnificent  temples,  and  these  were  endowed  with 
ample  lands.  Immediately  before  the  period  of  the  advent 
of  the  Christians  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  power  of  the 
priesthood  seems  to  have  reached  its  highest  point.  Nobu- 
nanga,  who  at  one  time  was  inclined  to  favor  the  foreign 
priests,  had  always  a  great  jealousy  of,  and  bore  a  great  ill- 
will  to,  the  Buddhist  priesthood.  He  destroyed  their  tem- 
ples, killed  their  priests,  and  confiscated  their  revenues,  and 


40  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

thus  gave  a  blow  to  their  power  from  which  they  have  never 
recovered,  and  under  which  they  are  withering  more  and 
more  every  day. 

In  Japan,  a  man  while  a  priest,  after  having  shaved  his 
head  and  taken  the  vows,  is  supposed  to  be  out  of  the  world, 
and  it  is  then  much  easier  to  keep  a  certain  amount  of  sur- 
veillance over  him,  and  to  see  that  he  is  attending  to  his 
duties,  and  is  not  engaged  in  political  intrigues. 

Of  the  larger  Buddhist  temples  of  different  sects,  fourteen 
are  retained  as  having  the  largest  rev  nues ;  and  whenever 
a  male  member  of  the  royal  family  is  unprovided  for  he  is 
put  in  as  head  abbot  or  bishop  of  one  of  these  temples. 
They  are  generally  appointed  while  children,  and  brought 
up  to  the  position;  and  as  the  revenues  of  the  office  have 
thus  time  to  accumulate,  the  reverend  holder  has  sufficient 
for  his  wants  and  those  of  a  respectable  retinue.  They  are 
then  called  Sin  wo  Monzekke  (Muntsih). 

1.  The  first  is  Rinnoji  Monzekke,  or  abbot  of  Rinoji  tem- 
ple.    The  temple  over  which  he  is  abbot  is  To  yay  zan,  in 
Yedo.     The  first  high-priest  put  into  this  was  Koboong  of 
lyeyas,    then   Shiogoon.     The  revenue   amounts  to  13,000 
koku  of  rice.     The  holder  is  of  the  Arisungawa  family,  and 
is  of  the  first  rank  and  second  degree.     He  is  known  as 
"Kwan  rayee  no  mia"  (from  the  nengo,  or  date,  of  his  ap- 
pointment), and  Yedo  no  mia  or  Ooyay  no  mia.     In  1860 
the  incumbent  was  very  old,  and  a  boy,  Gofutay,  of  the 
Fusimi  family,  was  appointed  assistant  and  successor. 

2.  The  second  is  Ninaji  no  mia,  otherwise  called  Omuro. 
The  income  is  1,502  koku.     The  incumbent  is  of  the  Fusimi 
family.     He  is  head  of  the  Singong  sect,  and  was  appointed 
to  the  office  in  1848,  when  four  years  of  age.    To  this  temple 
the  Emperor  generally  retires  should  he  become  a  priest  after 
abdication. 

3.  Dai  Kakuji,  otherwise  called  Sanga,  is  vacant. 

4.  Mio  ho  in,  at  Hiyayzan,  a  large  temple  near  Miako. 
The  Monzekke  is  of  the  Kunnin  family.     He  is  head  of  the 
Tendai  sect  of  Buddhists,  and  is  known  as  Tendai  zass. 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY   AND    COURT.  41 

5.  Sho  ngo  in  no  Monzekke  is  head  of  the  Yamabooshi 
religion.     He  is  of  the  Fusimi  family,  with  an  income  of 
1,430  koku.     His  temple  is  at  Omine  Honzan. 

6.  Sho  ko  in;  vacant,  but  the  revenues  are  held  by  No.  5. 

7.  Say  ray  in  Monzekke :  is  known  as  Awata  Mia.     He 
is  of  the  Fusimi  family.     The  income  is  1,330  koku. 

8.  Chi  wong  in  Monzekke,  of  the  Arisungawa  family. 
The  temple  is  in  Miako,  and  he  is  the  head  of  the  Jodoshiu 
sect  of  Buddhists. 

9.  Kwajooji  is  vacant. 

10.  Itchi  jo  in  Monzekke.     The  temple  is  in  Narra,  and 
is  very  old.     Held  by  one  of  the  house  of  Fusimi. 

11.  Kaji  ee  Monzekke,  of  the  Tendai  sect.    Of  the  family 
of  Fusimi,  with  an  income  of  1,600  koku. 

12.  Manjo  in  Monzekke  is  vacant. 

12.  Bissa  mondo  Monzekke  is  also  vacant. 

14.  Emmang  in  Monzekke,  commonly  called  Medora,  in 
the  province  of  Owomi,  is  also  vacant. 

All  these  bishoprics,  as  they  may  be  called,  are  held,  or 
may  be  held,  by  Sinwo  or  sons  of  Sinwo. 

But  as  it  is  in  many  countries,  both  European  and  East- 
ern, as  necessary  and  as  difficult  to  dispose  of  the  females 
of  high  families  as  the  males,  they  also  are  in  many  cases 
provided  for. 

There  are  twenty-four  temples  or  nunneries  which  are,  or 
may  be,  under  the  superintendence  of  daughters  or  relatives 
of  the  four  royal  families. 

1.  Daijoji,  in  Miako;   of  this  temple  a  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  was  formerly  abbess. 

2.  Hokio  ji. 

3.  Dan  kay  in. 

4.  Ko  shio  in. 

5.  Bay  gan  ji,  held  by  one  of  the  Fusimi  family,  who 
has  the  title  of  Nio-wo,  or  Queen  of  Nuns. 

6.  Yenshoji,  in  Narra,   the  ecclesiastical   metropolis  of 
Japan. 

7.  Rin  kinji. 


42  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

\ 

8.  Chiu  goji  and  sixteen  others  of  lower  class.  Many  of 
them  are,  however,  unoccupied ;  partly,  perhaps,  from  want 
of  ladies  of  the  royal  family  to  fill  them,  and  partly  from 
failure  of  zeal  for  the  Buddhist  religion  all  over  the  country. 

The  laws  with  reference  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  vows  of 
these  priests  and  priestesses  do  not  seem  to  be  very  strict,  as 
we  find  that,  when  opportunity  offers,  the  garb  is  thrown 
off,  the  hair  is  allowed  to  grow,  and  he  or  she  mixes  again 
in  the  world  in  whatever  capacity  their  worldliness,  their 
ambition,  or  their  sense,  has  prompted  them  to  desire. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  Emperor,  as  the  fountain  of 
honor,  reserves  to  himself  the  sole  right  of  conferring  titles 
and  rank.  This  reservation  throws  great  political  power  into 
his  hands,  the  acquisition  of  title  and  rank  being,  with  rare 
exceptions,  an  object  of  the  highest  ambition  to  a  Japanese. 
The  amount  of  business  connected  with  this  power  is  great, 
and  may  be  said  to  have  been  for  many  years  the  sole  occu- 
pation for  the  Miako  court.  A  special  office  and  officers 
are  set  apart  within  the  palace  inclosure  for  carrying  on 
the  correspondence  and  settling  disputes  connected  with  the 
department. 

RANKS  OF   MEN   IN   JAPAN 

Every  individual  in  Japan,  whether  noble,  priest  or  peas- 
ant, is  supposed  to  know  the  rank  in  which  he  stands  rela- 
tively to  those  about  him.  The  marks  of  respect  to  superi- 
ors— which  in  degree  appear  excessive  to  "Western  nations — 
are  graduated  from  a  trifling  acknowledgment  to  the  most 
absolute  prostration.  When  two  men  or  women  meet,  the 
first  point  to  be  ascertained  seems  to  be,  which  of  the  two  is 
to  make  the  acknowledgment  of  the  social  position  of  the 
other.  This  state  of  things  is  supported  by  law  as  well  as 
custom,  and  more  particularly  by  the  permission  given  to  a 
two-sworded  man,  in  case  of  his  feeling  himself  insulted,  to 
take  the  law  into  his  own  hands.  "What  would  be  irksome 
to  us  seems  to  become  easy  and  a  matter  of  course  in  Japan ; 
and  though,  no  doubt,  the  assumption  of  position  is  often  the 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND   COURT.  43 

source  of  brawls  and  fights,  the  system  works  more  smoothly 
than  might  have  been  expected. 

The  custom  of  wearing  two  swords  was  introduced  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  old  Miako  nobility  do  not  adopt  the 
custom — civilian  Koongays  wearing  no  sword,  and  military 
only  one  as  of  old.  All  Japan  is  divided  into  two  classes : 
those  who  have  a  right  to  wear  two  swords,  the  "Nihon 
sashi  shto"  or  "two-sworded  man,"  called  also  "Yashiki 
shto"  or  castle  retainers;  and  those  who  have  no  such  right, 
the  "Matchi  shto"  or  street  man  (otherwise  called  Chonin). 
The  latter  class  comprises  merchants,  artisans,  workmen, 
etc.,  who  work  at  some  trade,  but  possess  no  ground;  and 
also  Hiaksho,  farmers  who  do  not  trade,  but  farm  or  rent 
ground.  In  some  cases  individuals  of  these  classes  can  wear 
two  swords.  The  "swordless  man"  in  Yedo  pays  rent  for 
his  ground,  house  and  shop.  The  "two-sworded  man"  pays 
no  rent  and  no  taxes,  because  he  is  not  allowed  to  trade.  In 
Yedo,  parts  of  the  town  are  known  as  "Matchi  tsuchee," 
street  ground,  and  other  parts  as  "Yashiki  tsuchee,"  castle 
ground.  Persons  living  on  the  former  can  open  shops  and 
trade;  hi  the  latter  this  is  not  allowed.  This  last  two- 
sworded  class  is  known  as  "Samurai"  (Ch.  Sz),  which 
may  be  translated  "an  officer  and  a  gentleman,"  and  is 
an  important  distinction  conferring  valuable  rights  and 
privileges  at  the  expense  of  the  rest  of  the  community. 

This  division  of  the  people  into  two  classes  is  a  measure 
issuing  from  the  executive  at  Yedo,  the  Shiogoon's  govern- 
ment, rather  than  from  Miako.  The  Samurai  class  may 
be  said  to  include  the  Koongays,  the  Daimios,  the  "Jiki 
sang,"  who  are  the  officers  and  sub-officers  in  the  service  of 
the  Shiogoon;  the  Byshing — i.e.,  officers  in  the  service  of 
Daimios ;  and  such  Chonin  as  are  doing  duty  as  officers  in 
some  large  town,  such  as  Osaka  or  Miako,  and  are  always 
spoken  of  in  connection  with  the  city — as  Osaka  chonin,  for 
instance.  The  term  "Samurai"  is  applied  more  particularly 
to  all  below  the  fifth  rank,  military  or  civilians  who  are  not 
merchants  or  artisans.  There  are  others  who  have  the  right 


44  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

to  wear  two  swords,  such  as  Goshi,  large  farmers  or  landed 
proprietors  whose  ancestors  were  Daimios.  These  are  strong- 
est in  the  provinces  of  Kahi,  Etsjiu  and  Dewa,  some  being 
very  wealthy — as  Homma  in  Dewa,  and  Hanagura  in  Etsjiu. 
The  Samurai  who  have  the  right  to  wear  two  swords  assume 
the  right  of  giving  two  swords  to  their  attendants;  and  this 
right,  once  assumed,  is  not  readily  relinquished,  seeing  that 
a  two-sworded  man  has  the  privilege  of  traveling  at  a  much 
cheaper  rate  than  other  members  of  society,  pays  no  tolls  or 
taxes,  and  not  infrequently  pays  nothing  for  food  and  lodg- 
ing, their  power  being  so  great  that  they  are  feared,  if  not 
in  actual  attendance  upon  some  superior.  These  men  are 
frequently  dismissed  by,  or  voluntarily  leave  the  service  of, 
their  Daimio  or  master ;  but  as  those  who  are  so  dismissed  are 
often  brawlers,  they  retain  their  swords,  and  gain  a  living 
by  their  becoming  a  terror  to  quiet  people.  They  are  said 
to  be  "floating,"  without  any  attachment,  like  straws  on  a 
stream,  and  are  thence  called  "Ronin"  or  "floating-man." 
These  men  are  most  imperious  and  domineering  toward 
others  not  having  the  same  privileges  as  themselves,  and 
this  power  compels  wealthy  traders  and  others  to  enroll 
themselves  in  the  retinue  of  some  Daimio,  or  take  some 
other  roundabout  mode  to  prevent  themselves  being  in- 
sulted. This  is  not  the  character  of  every  Ronin,  many 
of  whom  are  respectable  members  of  society,  holding  their 
privileges  in  abeyance  until  called  upon  to  give  feudal  ser- 
vice by  some  superior. 

The  people  of  Japan  are  divided  generally  into  the  fol- 
lowing classes: 

1.  Koongays,  or  Miako  nobility. 

2.  Daimios,  or  Yedo  nobility. 

3.  Hattamoto — Lower  Daimio  class. 

4.  Hiaksho — Farmers  and    landed    proprietors  without 
rank  or  title. 

5.  Shokonin— Artisans,  carpenters,  etc. 

6.  Akindo — Merchants. 

7.  Kweiamono — Actors,  beggars,  etc. 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  45 

8.  Yayta — Tanners,  shoemakers,  leather  workers,  skin- 
ners. 

Beneath  these  are  prostitutes,  and  all  connected  with 
them,  who  are  considered  beasts,  or  on  a  level  with  them. 

In  opposition  to  the  name  of  "Koongay"  (Kung  kia), 
"exalted  house,"  the  nobility  of  Miako,  the  Daimios  and 
officers  of  the  Shiogoon's  court,  are  called  "Jee  ngay"  (Ti 
hia),  meaning  persons  low,  on  a  level  with  the  ground,  the 
latter  not  being  recognized  by  the  Emperor  as  feudal  lords 
further  than  as  servants  of  his  servant,  "Tokungawa" — i.e. 
the  Shiogoon. 

The  Japanese  titles  and  classification  of  officers  have  been 
taken  generally  from  China.  As  in  China,  all  the  officers 
honored  with  titles  by  the  Emperor,  or  performing  duties 
about  the  court,  are  divided  into  classes  or  ranks.  In  China 
the  Mandarins  are  divided  into  nine  classes.  Each  of  these 
classes  is  again  sub-divided  into  a  first  and  secondary  di- 
vision. The  same  division  and  sub-division  are  found  in 
Japan,  with  this  difference,  that  there  are  six  classes,  each 
sub-divided  into  four  ranks.  The  word  used  for  rank  is  I, 
otherwise  called  Kurai.  This  is  the  Chinese  word  Wai. 
The  six  ranks  in  order  are,  Itchi-i,  Ni-i,  Sanm-i,  Shi-i,  Go-i 
and  Roko-i.  Each  of  these  is  divided  according  to  the 
Chinese  classification  into  two,  the  "shio"  (or  "jio")  and 
the  "jiu,"  corresponding  to  the  "ching"  and  the  "tsung." 
These  are  sub-divided  again  into  two-— upper  and  lower — • 
"jio"  and  "gay,"  the  Chinese  "shang"  and  "hia."  The 
full  description  of  men  of  the  first  and  second  ranks  would 
be  respectively  "Jo  itchi-i  no  jio"  and  "Jo  itchi-i  no  gay" 
— the  "no"  meaning  "of."  The  minor  divisions  "jio"  and 
"gay"  are  not  much  used  in  the  higher  ranks  until  the 
highest  is  reached,  an  honor  now  reserved  only  for  the 
dead.  Indeed,  all  below  Shi-i,  or  the  fourth  grade,  are 
commonly  known  now  by  a  general  name,  "Sho  dai  boo" 
("Chu  ta  fu").  The  higher  classes  wear  at  court  distin- 
guishing dresses  and  colors,  or  devices  upon  black  dresses, 
and  they  are  entitled  in  virtue  of  their  rank  to  have  a  spear 


46  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

carried  before  them  when  moving  about  officially.  Officers 
are  presented  at  court,  both  at  Miako  and  Yedo,  according 
to  their  rank,  not  according  to  the  importance  of  their  office. 
Few  of  the  Daiinios  are  higher  than  the  first  sub-division  of 
the  fourth  rank.  The  Shiogoon  himself  is  elevated  from  one 
rank  to  another  by  the  favor  of  the  Emperor,  at  times  not 
rising  higher  than  the  first  sub-division  of  the  second  class. 
To  attain  such  rank  at  the  imperial  court  is  the  great  object 
of  ambition  in  Japan,  and  next  in  importance  is  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  title  conferred  by  the  Emperor.  But  as  some  titles, 
though  not  recognized  at  court,  are  used  by  the  Daimios  as 
holding  territory  under  the  Shiogoon,  there  is  a  distinction 
observed  between  the  two.  The  holders  of  titles  conferred 
by  the  Emperor  are  known  as  "Kio  kwang"  (King  kwan)  or 
imperial  officers,  while  the  Daimios  are  known  from  their 
territorial  appellations  as  "Kooni  kami"  (Kwoh  shau),  or 
keepers  of  the  provinces.  An  imperial  title  in  the  address 
is  always  placed  before  the  territorial  title. 

THE    KOONGAY 

After  the  Emperor  and  royal  families,  the  first  in  rank  in 
the  state  are  the  Koongays.  Until  further  light  be  thrown 
upon  Japanese  history,  the  remote  origin  of  this  class  will 
be  somewhat  obscure,  some  tracing  their  pedigree  back  up- 
ward of  1,500  years.  Many  of  the  Koongays  are  descend- 
ants of  younger  sons  and  cadets  of  the  imperial  family 
branching  off  at  former  periods,  while  the  surnames  of  some 
of  the  other  families  are  as  old  as  historic  records.  In  all 
probability  their  forefathers  came  over  to  Japan  at  the  time 
of  its  invasion  and  conquest  by  Zinmu,  and  being  the  assist- 
ants, brothers  in  arms,  and  mainstays  of  his  throne  and 
power,  the  soil  about  the  center  of  the  empire  was  divided 
among  them,  and  they  thenceforward  became  the  nobility  of 
the  court  of  the  Emperor.  So  long  as  the  empire  was  under 
one  emperor  who  ruled  vigorously,  this  aristocracy  seems  to 
have  existed  in  the  central  provinces  as  feudal  lords,  much 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  47 

in  the  same  way  as  the  Daimios  of  the  present  day.  But 
when  the  vigor  of  rule  relaxed,  and  power  fell  into  the  hands 
of  a  commander-in-chief,  or  mayor  of  the  palace,  with  un- 
certainty in  the  rulers,  there  followed  division  in  the  aristoc- 
racy. Previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
the  western  part  of  the  empire  was  all  that  was  known  to 
any  who  could  throw  light  upon  its  position  by  writing. 
The  large  tract  of  country  to  the  north  and  northeast  of 
Yedo,  called  the  obscure  or  unpenetrated  way,  was  com- 
paratively unknown  and  uninhabited,  and  was  divided  into 
four  or  five  large  territories,  under  princes  who  seldom 
heard  of,  and  more  rarely  visited,  the  court  at  Miako.  The 
dissensions  and  struggles  for  power  between  the  two  power- 
ful families  of  Heji  and  Genji  gave  rise  to  a  nearly  continual 
state  of  civil  war  for  upward  of  200  years.  During  the  Onin 
war  families  were  destroyed,  territories  were  lost,  might  was 
everywhere  right,  and  though  several  of  the  oldest  and 
noblest  families  among  the  Koongays  retained  their  honors 
and  titles  and  places  about  the  court,  .they  lost  their  prop- 
erty, and  many  have  ever  since  remained  at  the  lowest  ebb 
of  poverty. 

Those  few  noble  families  which  had  previously  to  this 
period  of  civil  war  divided  among  themselves  the  places  and 
titles  of  the  court,  were  denuded  of  their  splendor;  but  their 
representatives  continued  to  struggle  on  with  poverty,  proud 
in  the  possession  of  an  ancient  lineage,  and  of  their  names 
being  enrolled  as  nobles  in  the  Great  Book  of  the  empire. 
These  are  the  Koongays  of  the  present  day.  They  are  not 
all  in  this  state  of  poverty,  many  of  them  being  well  off,  and 
some  very  wealthy ;  but  others  are  very  poor,  and  eke  out 
the  scanty  subsistence  given  them  by  the  Emperor  by  paint- 
ing, basket-making,  and  other  manual  employments,  afford- 
ing, in  their  persons,  their  poverty,  and  their  pretensions, 
ample  scope  for  the  pen  of  the  native  caricaturist.  The 
names,  history,  and  pedigree  of  the  Koongays  are  enrolled 
in  the  Great  Book  of  the  empire,  the  equivalent  to  the  Her- 
alds' Office  or  Patent  Office  of  England.  A  book,  the 


48  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

"Koongay  no  Kayzu,"  or  Pedigree  of  the  Koongays,  is 
printed  in-  Japan,  giving  all  these  particulars,  and  is  gen- 
erally by  the  natives  considered  authentic.  The  names  of 
Daimios  (as  such)  are  not  so  enrolled ;  they  have  no  patents 
of  nobility  from  the  Emperor,  and  the  "Hang  campu,"  giv- 
ing the  pedigree  and  history  of  the  families  of  Daimios,  is 
regarded  as  anything  but  authentic,  and  is  looked  upon 
as  in  many  cases  made  up  by  individuals  to  conceal  the 
origin  of  the  family. 

The  Koongay  class  includes  all  the  illustrious  families  of 
Japan.  In  common  estimation  the  Daimios  are  far  below 
this  class ;  and  even  the  Shiogoon,  though  he  is  feared  as  the 
head  of  the  executive,  is  looked  upon  as  comparatively  a 
parvenu. 

The  class  is  divided  into  two,  an  older  or  higher,  the 
"Koongio,"  and  a  lower,  or  more  recently  created,  "Ten  jio 
bito"  (Tien  shang  jin).  "Koongio"  (Kung  hiang)  is  a  name 
which  includes  all  the  officers  of  the  first,  second  and  third 
ranks.  All  of  the  fourth  rank  and  below  are  called  "So 
shing,"  in  which  are  included  "Ten  jio  bito,"  "Sho  diabu," 
and  "Samurai."  The  appellation  "Mayka"  (ming  kia) 
seems  to  denote  that  the  bearer  is  a  civilian.  All  the  higher 
offices  in  the  state  are  filled  by  Koongays,  but  only  five 
families  are  eligible  to  fill  the  highest.  These  five  families 
are  known  as  the  "Go  sek  kay"  (Wu  ship  kia),  or  "Shippay 
kay,"  or  "Sessio  no  eeyay,"  helper  of  emperor — lit.,  to  take 
the  handle — "the  five  assisting  families."  They  are:  1, 
Konoyay;  2,  Koojio;  3,  Nijio;  4,  Itchijio;  5,  Takatskasa. 
If  the  highest  offices  under  the  Emperor  (as  those  of  "Dai 
jio  dai  jin,"  "Kwanbakku,"  or  "Sessio")  be  vacant,  no 
one  who  is  not  of  one  of  these  five  families  is  eligible  to  fill 
such  office. 

In  regard  to  rank  at  court,  the  Koongays  generally  stand 
in  the  lower  class  of  the  first,  or  in  the  second  or  third  rank. 
They  are  known  at  Miako  by  their  dress.  For  a  long  time 
past  they  have  had  little  power,  and  were  of  little  impor- 
tance ;  but  since  the  commencement  of  foreign  relations  the 


THE   IMPERIAL   FAMILY  AND    COURT.  49 

political  tide  has  rather  flowed  toward  Miako,  and  from 
Yedo,  and  they  have  increased  in  political  power  as  well  as 
in  wealth,  as  the  Daimios  and  office-seekers  of  Yedo  endeavor 
to  obtain  the  objects  of  their  ambition  through  the  influence 
of  their  poorer  brethren  in  Miako.  The  poverty  of  most  of 
the  class  prevents  them  entering  upon  an  enervating  life 
of  dissipation,  which  too  often  saps  the  vigor  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Daimios,  and  they  are  able  to  take  a  part  in  the 
discussion  of  political  subjects.  Many  of  them  fill  the  more 
or  less  nominal  offices  of  government  in  one  of  the  eight 
great  boards  of  the  empire ;  and  this  amount  of  occupation, 
together  with  writing  imaginative  pieces,  keeps  their  minds 
in  a  sufficient  state  of  activity. 

In  addition  to  the  distinctions  of  rank  in  Japan,  there  is 
also  the  distinction  into  families  or  clans,  great  importance 
being  attached  to  a  family  name.  The  feuds  between  rival 
families  have  in  past  times  rent  the  empire  to  pieces.  The 
Emperor  is  said  to  have  no  name ;  but  some  of  the  cadets, 
offshoots  from  the  imperial  line,  have  founded  lines  of  their 
own,  taking  root  and  flourishing  as  distinct  families.  In  this 
way  have  been  derived  the  lines  known  as  the  "Say  wa 
Genji,"  the  "Ooda  Genji,"  and  the  "Murakami  Genji." 
These  are  descendants  of  younger  sons  of  emperors  of  these 
names.  But  among  all  the  families  of  Japan,  the  first  place 
is  held  by  that  of  Fusiwara,  in  length  of  pedigree,  in  the 
honors  held  in  past  ages,  and  in  the  present  position  of  the 
family.  During  every  period  in  the  annals  of  the  empire, 
members  of  this  family  have  filled  the  highest  offices,  civil 
and  military,  of  the  state.  But  it  has,  perhaps,  shone  more 
in  civil  employment  than  in  military.  The  "five  families" 
of  the  Sekkay  mentioned  above  belong  to  the  clan  Fusiwara. 
Other  families  have  risen  at  different  times  to  the  highest 
pinnacle  attainable  by  subjects,  but  after  a  time  they  have 
gradually  fallen  back  into  comparative  obscurity.  Ninety- 
five  of  the  Koongays  call  themselves  of  the  clan  Fusiwara. 
In  very  remote  periods  the  family  of  Nakatomi  seems  to 
have  held  the  highest  rank,  absorbing  by  its  members,  at  one 

3 


50  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

time,  all  the  offices  of  religion.  Only  one  Koongay  family, 
Fusinami,  now  represents  this  old  clan.  In  point  of  antiq- 
uity, if  not  of  luster  of  name,  the  Sungawara  family,  com- 
monly called  Kwang  kay,  ranks  only  second  to  Fusiwara. 
The  members  of  this  family  are  rarely  found  in  military  em- 
ployment, generally  filling  the  offices  of  teachers  or  lecturers 
on  history  or  religion. 

The  "Gen  kay,"  otherwise  called  "Minnamoto,"  are  more 
illustrious  as  military  men.  Seventeen  families  of  the  Koon- 
gays  belong  to  this  clan.  All  the  Minnamoto  Koongays  are 
descended  from  younger  sons  of  former  emperors.  One  of 
these,  the  "Say  wa"  Minnamoto,  assert  that  their  line  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  present  imperial  dynasty  of  China,  who 
are  descendants  of  the  Emperor  Say  wa,  or  "Tsing  wa," 
whence  the  "Tsing"  or  "Ta  Tsing"  family,  which  emigrated 
from  the  north  of  Japan  several  centuries  ago. 

The  Taira,  or  He  kay,  the  great  opponent  of  the  Gen  kay 
(otherwise  known  as  Heji  and  Genji)  during  many  years  of 
civil  war,  includes  five  familes. 

Nishika  koji,  of  the  Tanba  clan,  is  said  to  represent  one 
of  the  emperors  of  China  of  the  Eastern  Han  dynasty,  who 
was  driven  from  China  and  took  refuge  in  Japan. 

A  new  creation  of  Koongays  is  very  rare.  About  1830, 
Kitta  koji  (of  the  clan  Oway),  whose  family  for  three  gen- 
erations had  filled  the  office  of  Kurodo,  was  elevated  to  the 
rank. 

The  names  of  Koongays  are,  in  many  cases,  derived  from 
the  street  or  place  where  they  originally  lived,  as  Itchi  jio, 
No.  1  Street. 

There  are  in  all  137  Koougays. 

There  is  assigned  to  each  Koongay  an  annual  revenue 
calculated  in  koku  of  rice.  This,  in  most  cases,  implies  so 
much  ground  held  of  the  Emperor.  The  total  sum  divided 
among  these  noble  families  does  not  amount  to  that  allowed 
to  a  third-rate  Daimio.  But  though  several  of  these  nobles 
are  miserably  poor,  and  have  probably  little  to  live  upon 
besides  the  rice  which  is  given  them  by  the  Emperor,  there 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT.  51 

are  some  among  them  who  have  other  sources  of  wealth. 
In  old  times  the  Koongays  possessed  large  landed  property; 
but  in  the  wars  of  the  He  kay  and  Gen  kay,  Kiomori,  the 
leader  of  the  former,  despoiled  them,  and  the  divided  por- 
tions of  these  lands  were  seized  by  whoever  had  the  power. 
Some  still  retain  extensive  landed  property,  but  the  majority 
have  fixed  salaries,  which  they  receive  at  the  Emperor's 
hands.  Residing  near  the  court,  and  often  connected  with 
the  Emperor  and  high  officers  by  marriage,  the  poorest  may 
possess  some  influence,  and  this  frequently  contributes  to 
swell  their  incomes.  This  influence  is  courted  by  the  Daimios 
at  a  distance,  who,  aspiring  to  rank  or  titles,  purchase  the 
assistance  and  influence  of  the  Koongays,  such  as  it  may  be, 
by  solid  presents.  The  higher  class,  who  really  have  much 
power,  in  this  way  become  very  rich.  The  little  land  which 
belongs  to  them  may,  by  taxes,  duties,  or  customs,  produce 
much  more  than  the  exact  number  of  koku  of  the  original 
calculation.  Thus  the  seaport  town  of  Itami  stands  on  the 
ground  of  Konoyay  dono,  and  he  levies  a  tax  upon  the  ex- 
ports and  imports;  and,  in  addition  to  the  customs,  he  re- 
ceives the  duties  upon  all  the  saki  or  spirit  distilled  between 
the  towns  of  Hiogo  and  Osaka,  and  this  is  the  great  distilling 
district  for  the  whole  country.  Having  acquired  money,  he 
lends  it  out  at  Oriental  rates  of  interest  to  the  Daimios,  who 
are  too  often  in  need  of  ready  money,  so  that  he  is  a  very 
wealthy  man.  The  Koongays  have  not  the  large  expenses 
which  drain  the  purses  of  the  Daimios ;  having  compara- 
tively few  retainers,  they  are  not  obliged  to  make  the  osten- 
tatious display  which  brings  the  Daimios  to  poverty;  nor 
have  they  the  same  number  of  establishments  to  keep  up 
at  different  places.  All  this  contributes  to  make  the  upper 
class  of  Koongays,  already  powerful  by  rank,  position  and 
influence,  substantial  in  their  independence.  The  poorer 
class  eke  out  their  existence  in  a  variety  of  ways,  honorable 
enough,  but  not  contributing  much  in  the  way  of  worldly 
wealth.  Assukayee  teaches  playing  at  "mari,"  a  sort  of 
football,  which  is  a  fashionable  game  at  court,  and  which  is 


52  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

probably  derived  from  the  Chinese  shuttlecock,  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  difference  in  the  style  of  boots  and  shoes. 
In  playing  at  this  game  in  Miako,  the  court  turns  out  in 
gorgeous  dresses.  Jimio-in  and  others  teach  writing.  Sono 
dono  teaches  the  science  of  dwarfing  trees,  and  the  art  of 
arranging  flowers  in  flower-holders.  At  both  of  these  the 
Japanese  excel.  In  the  former  they  display  a  wonderful 
power  over  nature,  and  in  the  latter  a  highly  cultivated 
taste.  A  fir-tree  has  been  seen  in  perfect  vigor,  bearing  a 
cone,  and  eight  years  old,  and  only  an  inch  in  height. 
Rayzay  teaches  poetry  and  composition.  Sijio  dono  teaches 
the  art  of  dressing  dinners  and  cookery,  which  is  considered 
in  Japan  the  occupation  of  a  gentleman.  When  an  artist 
has  prepared  a  dinner,  and  laid  it  out,  it  is  common  for  the 
public  to  go  to  see  it  as  a  work  of  art.  Yamashima  and 
Takakura  superintend  and  teach  the  art  of  dressing  and  of 
etiquette.  Tsutchi  Mikado  teaches  and  explains  what  is 
known  in  China  as  the  "Ta  kih,"  the  ultimate  cause  of 
things,  the  immaterial  principle  of  the  Chinese  philosophers, 
as  contained  in  and  exemplified  by  a  series  of  diagrams ;  and, 
as  an  astrologer,  divines  into  futurity.  Others  paint,  and 
sell  their  works  of  art,  or  teach  painting.  The  poorer  indi- 
viduals who  receive  rice  also  get  the  Emperor's  cast-off  outer 
garments.  Their  daughters  are  in  the  habit  of  going  to  the 
families  of  the  Daimios  as  governesses  (and  are  commonly 
known  by  the  name  of  "jorosama"),  to  teach  the  young 
ladies  and  gentlemen  the  customs  and  language  of  the  court. 
Of  these  ladies  there  are  generally  one  or  more  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Shiogoon  in  Yedo.  They  sometimes  act  in  the 
capacity  of  spies  as  well  as  of  governesses;  and,  having 
much  influence,  they  are  sometimes  feared  as  censores 
morum. 

Under  the  five  Go  sekkay  nearly  all  the  Koongays  are 
classed  into  five  divisions;  and  in  his  relation  to  his  head, 
each  Koongay  is  known  as  "Monrio"  or  "Sorio" — one  divis- 
ion under  each  of  the  five. 

If  any  of  those  in  a  position  of  Monrio  have  any  business 


THE   IMPERIAL    FAMILY  AND    COURT.  53 

with  the  court,  such  must  be  dispatched  through  his  head, 
who  then  communicates  with  the  Emperor. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Sin  wo  and  sons  of  the  impe- 
rial families  are  provided  for  by  absorption  into  the  higher 
offices  of  the  priesthood,  and  to  fill  the  seats  in,  and  receive 
the  revenues  of,  the  richer  abbeys  and  monasteries.  In  a 
similar  way  the  sons  of  the  Go  sekkay  and  higher  Koongays 
(known  as  Kindatchi)  are  provided  for.  There  are  six  richly- 
endowed  temples  whose  revenues  are  respectively  enjoyed  by 
a  member  of  one  of  these  families.  These  men  are  known ' 
by  the  name  of  "Sekkay  Monzekke." 

If  a  Daimio  happens  to  meet  the  norimono  or  sedan-chair 
of  a  Koongay  upon  the  highroad,  he  must  wait  with  all  his 
retinue  till  the  latter  shall  have  passed.  Koongays  usually 
blacken  their  teeth  and  shave  the  eyebrows,  and  do  not  fol- 
low the  usual  custom  in  shaving  the  head.  Civilians  do  not 
carry  a  sword;  military  carry  one  called  "tatchi."  In  ordi- 
nary times  a  Koongay  is  not  likely  to  be  put  to  death,  how- 
ever great  may  be  his  crimes ;  but  he  may  be  ordered  to 
shave  his  head  and  enter  a  monastery,  or  may  be  confined 
to  a  room  in  his  own  house. 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  what  was  the  exact  position  of 
the  Koongays  in  the  times  before  the  great  civil  wars  of  the 
thirteenth  and  following  centuries.  The  empire  seems  to 
have  been  divided  at  that  time  very  much  as  it  is  now,  into 
one  large  central  court  at  the  metropolis,  with  a  number  of 
smaller  courts  in  the  provinces,  each  ruled  by  its  lord,  king, 
Daimio,  or  dynasta,  as  they  have  been  called.  The  court  of 
the  Emperor  always  remained  at  Miako.  There  he  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  members  of  the  old  families,  among  whom 
he  distributed  honors.  There  was  to  be  seen  a  supposed  pre- 
fect form  of  government,  the  history  of  which  is  written  in 
the  "Annals."  Probably  in  each  of  the  lesser  courts — such, 
for  instance,  as  that  of  Satsuma,  Mowori,  and  other  wealthy 
lords — the  same  form  of  government  was  carried  on  in  a 
miniature  scale ;  and,  so  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  history 
and  native  historical  maps,  the  extensive  territories  belong- 


54  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

ing  to  these  lords  were  always  under  the  entire  rule  each  of 
its  own  master,  and  acknowledging  no  right  in  the  central 
court  (so  long  as  that  master  did  not  in  any  way  come  into 
collision  with  the  general  good  of  the  empire)  to  interfere 
in  any  way  with  what  passed  within  these  territories.  The 
imperial  court,  in  its  executive  form,  was  confined  to  the 
provinces  around  Miako — the  Gokinai.  The  annals  of  the 
Emperors  are  devoted  in  the  main  to  the  occurrences  which 
took  place  within  these  provinces,  detailing  the  names  and 
families,  the  titles,  ranks,  and  history  of  the  men  who  in 
that  court  were  looked  upon  as  great  and  eminent.  Of 
these,  the  more  prominent  were  brought  forward  and  ad- 
vanced by  the  Emperor  in  hereditary  rank  and  title  above 
their  fellows — these  were  the  Koongays ;  while  the  territorial 
lords  were  only  known  by  their  family  names,  or  the  name 
of  the  provinces  over  which  they  ruled,  and  were  only  ex- 
pected to  come  once  a  year  to  Miako,  in  order  to  pay  their 
respects  to  the  Emperor.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  but  that 
differences  would  arise  among  these  territorial  lords,  some 
more  or  less  powerful ;  ambition  and  lust  of  wealth  or  power 
would  soon  find  a  cause  for  a  quarrel,  and  this  would  light 
up  a  civil  war.  In  such  cases,  the  Emperor  and  the  officers 
of  the  imperial  court  were  looked  to  as  the  arbiters  or  um- 
pires, and  acquired  and  retained  so  firm  a  position  hi  the 
machinery  of  the  State  and  in  the  minds  of  the  people  as  to 
withstand  all  the  shocks  which  have  at  different  times  so 
frequently  and  rudely  put  one  down  and  set  up  another  of 
these  provincial  powers. 


THE   EIGHT   BOARDS    OF    GOVERNMENT.  55 


CHAPTER   II 

THE   EIGHT   BOAEDS   OF   GOVERNMENT 

HAVING  given  above  a  sketch  of  the  ranks  eligible  in  old 
times  to  fill  the  offices  of  government,  a  step  will  be  gained 
by  obtaining  some  insight  into  the  means  by  which  that  gov- 
ernment was  carried  on.  The  arrangements  are  of  very 
ancient  date,  and  seem  to  have  been  more  or  less  in  actual 
use  until  the  separation  of  the  empire  into  two  at  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  At  that  time  the  executive  depart- 
ment of  the  empire  was  entirely  removed  to  Yedo,  but  the 
shadow  or  the  skeleton  of  the  defunct  body  was  allowed  to 
remain  in  Miako.  The  offices  which  had  of  old  conferred 
power,  and  demanded  exertion  in  fulfilling  the  duties,  were 
now  only  empty  names — honorific  appellations;  the  power 
of  conferring  these  nominal  offices  being  all  that  remained 
to  the  Emperor  of  his  former  greatness.  Still  the  retention 
of  the  power  has  not  been  without  its  use.  Though  the 
actual  power  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Shiogoon,  the 
hopes  of  the  people  and  of  the  Emperor  have  ever  turned 
toward  its  ultimate  re-establishment  at  Miako,  in  a  machinery 
all  ready  at  any  moment  to  take  up  the  duties  of  government. 

At  the  period  when  the  government  of  Japan  was  settled, 
many  of  the  institutions  of  China  seemed  to  have  been  copied 
or  transferred  by  the  founders  of  the  empire.  This  must 
have  occurred  at  a  very  early  period  in  its  history.  While 
the  original  model  has  been  followed,  modifications  have 
from  time  to  time  been  introduced  to  meet  the  varying 
exigencies  of  the  country.  But  perhaps  nothing  points  more 
strongly  to  a  Chinese  origin  for  the  ruling  ranks  of  Japan 


5  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

than  the  early  adoption  of  this  form  of  government.  As  in 
China  six  boards  are  found  at  Pekin,  so  in  Japan  eight  boards 
are  found  at  Miako.  The  names  of  these  boards  or  depart- 
ments, the  titles  of  the  officials,  the  ranks  of  the  subordinate 
officers,  are  all  found  under  Chinese  names. 

Klaproth  has  given  in  his  "Annals  of  the  Emperors"  a 
sketch  of  these  eight  boards,  with  the  offices  under  each.  It 
is  probably  taken  from  the  "Shoku  gen  sho,"  a  little  work 
written  in  the  year  1340  by  Kitta  Batake  Chikafusa,  and 
in  use  at  the  present  day  as  a  concise  account  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Japan. 

The  study  of  such  a  subject  is  rather  dry  and  uninterest- 
ing, but  it  is  necessary  for  any  one  who  wishes  to  make  him- 
self acquainted  with  Japanese  history,  either  of  the  past  or 
of  the  present  day,  to  read  and  understand  this  book.  What 
here  follows  is  only  a  rough  sketch  with  a  little  further  filling 
in.  In  what  may  be  called  the  preface  to  the  "Shoku  gen 
sho" — a  slight  historical  introduction — the  author  says :  ' '  We 
gather  from  old  records,  that  in  the  time  of  Sui  ko  (the  first 
Empress),  in  the  twelfth  year  of  her  reign,  A.D.  605,  Sho 
toku,  being  prime  minister,  settled  twelve  grades  of  officers. 
Afterward,  the  Emperor  Kwo  toku,  in  the  fifth  year  of  his 
reign  (A.D.  650),  divided  the  country  into  eight  provinces  (or 
divided  the  government  into  eight  departments),  and  defi- 
nitely fixed  the  offices.  Subsequently,  in  the  first  year  of  the 
Emperor  Mun  moo  (A.D.  697),  Fusiwara  no  tan  kaiko  Kama- 
tariko  (canonized  as  Kassunga  dia  mio  jin)  was  appointed 
great  minister,  and  by  him  laws  were  made  and  the  officers 
and  nobles  were  appointed.  At  one  time  the  numbers  were 
greatly  diminished,  and  again  they  were  increased,  and  fresh 
officers,  'uncommissioned,'  got  employment.  But  the  min- 
isters, the  'Nai  dai  jin'  and  the  'Chiu  nagoon,'  existed  be- 
fore the  first  year  of  Mun  moo.  But  authentic  records  of 
that  period  do  not  remain  in  existence  at  the  present  time. 
In  old  times  there  was  a  separate  office  of  religion  known  as 
the  'Jin  ngi  kwang'  or  'Kami  no  tskasa,'  answering  to 
the  'Ta  chang  sz'  in  China.  The  two  officers  who  super- 


THE   EIGHT   BOARDS    OF    GOVERNMENT.  57 

intended  the  rites  in  worship  of  the  gods  were  above  all 
other  officers.  This  was  the  pristine  custom  in  the  kingdom 
of  spirits  (Japan),  arising  from  the  reverence  paid  to  the 
gods  of  heaven  and  the  spirits  of  earth. 

"In  the  earliest  times  the  Emperor  Zinmu  established 
the  capital  within  the  bounds  of  the  province  of  Yamato,  at 
Kashiwarra.  At  that  time,  in  the  beginning,  Ten  shio  dai 
shin  (the  heaven-illuminating  spirit)  came  down  and  placed 
three  things — a  ball  or  seal,  an  eight-cubit  mirror,  and  a 
grass-shaving  sword — in  the  palace,  on  the  throne  of  the 
Emperor,  which  received  homage  such  as  was  offered  in  early 
times.  The  efficacy  of  the  spirit  was  great,  so  that  the  Em- 
peror dwelling  with  the  spirit  was,  as  it  were,  equal  to  a 
god.  Within  the  palace  these  three  emblems  were  placed  in 
safety,  that  it  might  be  said  that  where  these  are  there  is 
divine  power.  At  this  time  two  high  officers,  '  Ama  no  koya 
ne  no  mikoto'  and  'Ama  no  tane  ko  mikoto,'  regulated  the 
sacrificial  rites  and  court  ceremonies,  until  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Soui-zin  (97-30  B.C.),  who,  fearing  the  majesty  of 
the  divinity,  took  away  these  three  efficacious  symbols,  the 
sword  and  the  seal  and  the  mirror,  and  put  them  elsewhere 
(i.e.,  in  a  palace  he  built  at  Miako);  which  was  the  origin 
of  the  idea  of  the  Emperor's  sitting  like  a  god  in  the  place 
of  a  god. 

"In  the  reign  of  Swee  nin  (A.D.  29-70)  the  great  spirit 
Tenshio,  or  Ten  shio  dai  jin,  descended  upon  the  province  of 
Isse  (when  the  Emperor  measured  and  divided  that  province), 
and  that  Emperor  built  and  endowed  the  temple  or  yashiro  of 
Isse.  This  is  the  most  sacred  temple  in  the  empire. 

"At  that  time  the  O  nakatomi  family  were  hereditary 
officers  of  religion,  and  of  rites  of  worship. 

' '  After  the  officers  of  state  had  been  appointed,  the  officers 
of  the  Jin  ngi  kwang,  or  spiritual  department,  were  settled. 
Originally  the  Jin  ngi  kwang  was  the  highest  department  of 
all.  The  temple  built  by  the  Emperor  at  Isse  had  separate 
officers  of  worship,  and  as  to  duties,  both  regulated  worship  \ 
the  offices  were  similar  in  their  origin  and  character,  but  the 


58  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

department  of  religion  was  of  the  highest  importance.  There- 
fore, in  the  kingdom  of  spirits  (i.e.,  Japan)  these  officers  of 
religion  ranked  above  all  other  officers.  At  that  time  a  man 
of  the  fourth  rank  could  be  an  officer  of  religion,  but  now  it 
is  confined  to  the  second  and  third  ranks.  Formerly,  of  old, 
any  one  was  considered  capable  of  filling  the  office,  Naka- 
tomi  or  other ;  but  in  the  middle  ages,  since  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Kwa  sann,  it  became  hereditary  in  the  family  of 
his  son,  and  no  other  family  could  fill  the  office ;  and  it  has 
since  been  filled  by  the  members  of  the  royal  family. 

"Originally  the  name  Nakatomi  designated  an  office. 
When  one  of  the  holders  was  made  Oodai  jin,  he  added  O 
(great)  to  his  title ;  but  his  descendants  did  not  use  the  title, 
therefore  they  are  simply  called  Nakatomi." 

Such  is  the  introduction  to  the  "Book  of  the  Government 
of  the  Empire."  What  follows  is  the  names  of  the  different 
offices,  and  ranks  of  officers,  whether  civil  or  military,  stat- 
ing what  rank  is  eligible  to  hold  each  office,  what  offices  can 
be  held  in  conjunction  by  the  same  person,  together  with  the 
Chinese  equivalent  of  each  title  wherever  it  can  be  given. 

Every  office  in  Japan  is  divided  into  four — a  head  and 
three  subordinates.  The  head  is  called  by  various  titles, 
Kio,  Kami,  Tayu,  Daiboo,  etc.  The  highest  subordinate  is 
called  Skay  or  Ske — in  Chinese,  Tsu — to  assist  or  help;  or 
Kai,  to  attend  upon ;  also  Tso,  to  assist :  all  three  characters 
are  used.  The  next  is  Jo — Chinese,  Shing,  to  assist — deputy. 
The  clerks  are  called  Sakkan — Chinese,  Shuh — attached  to 
as  a  tail,  dependent  on.  Each  of  these  may  be  subdivided 
into  great  and  small,  Dai  and  Sho;  and  further,  frequently 
into  sa  and  oo — i.e.,  right  and  left.  Besides  these  official 
grades,  the  title  of  Gong,  or  Gonno,  is  found.  This  seems 
to  be  an  honorific  title,  and  is  generally  conferred  by  the 
Emperor  upon  Koongays  and  persons  about  his  own  court. 
It  seems  to  mean  honorary  substitute  or  deputy,  and  is  added 
or  prefixed  to  another  title.  This  is  the  word  K'iin  in  Chi- 
nese, with  the  meaning  of  power,  balance,  temporary  sub- 
stitute. 


THE   EIGHT  BOARDS   OF    GOVERNMENT.  59 

With  these  explanations  it  may  be  possible  to  understand 
the  titles  and  descriptions  of  offices  and  officers  given  in  the 
Shoku  gen  sho. 

The  first  or  highest  office  was  that  of  religion,  or  board 
of  rites,  the  Jin  ngi  kwang  (shin  k'i  kwan),  the  office  of  the 
worship  of  spirits.  This  office,  at  first  entirely  for  regulation 
of  the  Sinto  religion,  was  rendered  unnecessary  by  the  intro- 
duction of  Buddhism,  and  has  been  practically  done  away 
with — the  higher  titles  and  larger  emoluments  being  ab- 
sorbed by  the  younger  sons  of  royal  families,  while  the  work- 
ing part  of  the  board  has  been  joined  with  the  highest  board, 
Dai  jo  gwang. 

The  Dai  jo  gwang,  or  Matsuri  koto  tskasa,  is  the  great 
office  of  government.  This  is  the  "cabinet,"  and  is  over  and 
superintends  the  eight  boards  and  the  affairs  of  the  whole 
empire.  The  chief  of  the  department  is  the  Dai  jo  dai  jin — 
the  great  minister  of  the  whole  government.  He  is  also 
called  Sho  koku.  This  office  is  not  always  filled  up.  The 
holder  is  in  settled  times  nearly  invariably  one  of  the  "five 
families."  This  is  the  highest  office  in  the  state,  and  was 
commenced  by  the  Emperor  Ten  shi,  who  conferred  it  on  his 
son.  "When  this  office  is  vacant,  the  next  in  rank,  the  Sa  dai 
jin  (left  great  minister)  is  highest  official  in  point  of  rank. 
The  highest  subject  generally  receives  at  the  Emperor's 
hands  the  title  of  Kwanbakku,  first  given  A.D.  880.  The 
Kwanbakku  is  always  near  the  Emperor's  person,  and  not 
engaged  so  much  as  others  on  public  business.  If  the  sov- 
ereign be  a  minor  or  a  female,  a  regent  is  appointed,  who  is 
naturally  the  most  powerful  subject  in  the  empire.  He  is 
named  Sessio,  or  Setz  jio,  helper  of  the  government.  When 
such  a  regent  is  appointed  for  a  young  Empress,  it  is  gen- 
erally intended  that  he  is  to  marry  her,  and  become  Emperor. 
The  Kwanbakku  was,  in  old  times,  called  Omurazi.  He  is 
frequently  spoken  of  as  Denga  sama.  The  Dai  jo  dai  jin 
is  commonly  known  as  Sho  koku,  the  Sa  dai  jin  as  Sa  foo 
sama,  Oo  dai  jin  as  Eoo  foo  sama,  Nai  dai  dai  jin  as  Nai  or 
Dai  foo  sama.  There  may  be  only  one  of  the  three  titles, 


60  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

Dai  jio  dai  jin,  Kwanbakku,  or  Sessio,  conferred  at  a  time; 
but  whoever  holds  it  is  known  to  be  the  highest  official,  and 
he  may  have  all  three  titles  at  the  same  time.  The  office 
of  Dai  jio  dai  jin  has  frequently  remained  vacant  for  length- 
ened periods. 

In  the  Dai  jio  gwang  there  are  four  ministers.  Dai  jin 
means  great  minister,  and  the  prefix  of  Sa  is  left,  of  Oo  is 
right.  In  Japan  the  left  generally  takes  precedence.  And 
these  four  stand  in  this  relation  to  one  another.  The  three 
first  are  known  as  the  "Sanko,"  or  three  exalted  ones. 
There  is  another  officer,  that  of  Nai  dai  jin,  inner  or  mid- 
dle great  minister.  This  office  is  filled  up  if  there  be  no 
Dai  jio  dai  jin;  but  if  otherwise  it  remains  in  abeyance. 

Since  1780  the  Shiogoon  has  generally  been  elevated  to 
be  Oodai  jin  or  Sadai  jin. 

The  next  officer  below  the  Oodai  jin  is  the  Dai  na  goon. 
There  are  ten  of  them.  They  act  with  the  Sanko  in  the  Dai 
jo  gwang  office.  They  seem  to  be  the  mouthpieces  to  and 
from  the  board,  and  in  consultation  with  the  board.  They 
are  generally  Koongays.  But  some  of  the  highest  Daimios 
are  competent  for  the  office,  Owarri,  Kishiu,  and  Mito. 

The  Chiu  (or  middle)  na  goon — ten  officers  of  much  lower 
rank  than  the  last — never  deliberate  with  the  board,  but  are 
consulted  after  or  before.  They  are  generally  Koongays. 

The  Sangi  (Ts'an  i),  also  called  Sei  sho  and  Gisso  (I  tsau), 
is  a  very  important  office — eight  officers.  They  are  of  high 
rank  (above  the  last),  and  are  chosen  for  their  talent  for  the 
office.  This  seems  to  be  to  report  upon  the  proceedings  and 
conclusions  of  the  other  officers  of  the  board ;  to  watch  and 
also  advise,  and  sometimes  to  act  as  judges.  They  are  both 
civil  and  military.  If  a  man  has  shown  himself  qualified 
for  this  office  he  may  rise  to  it,  though  not  originally  of  high 
rank. 

The  Sho  (or  lesser)  nagoon  are  much  below  the  above 
officers  in  rank.  They  are  said  to  help  the  memories  of  the 
principal  officers,  to  put  seals  to  deeds,  and  carry  communi- 
cations to  other  boards :  they  are  both  military  and  civil. 


THE   EIGHT  BOARDS    OF   GOVERNMENT.  61 

Gayki  or  Kwanmu — five  officers  who  act  as  secretaries  to 
one  of  the  three  officers  of  the  Dai  jo  ngwang.  Divided  into 
great  and  small,  Dai  and  Sho,  gayki ;  the  head  man  is  called 
Kioo  ku  mu.  The  duties  consist  in  writing  out  the  patents 
and  titles  conferred  by  the  Mikado.  In  cases  of  dispute  be- 
tween high  officers,  they  seem  to  write  out  a  statement  of  the 
case  on  both  sides  for  the  decision  of  the  board.  They  look 
after  any  newly-introduced  business,  such  as  introduction  of 
foreigners  to  the  country. 

Ben-gwang,  seven  officers,  all  Koongay — a  higher  office 
than  the  preceding.  Two  head  men,  left  and  right,  Sa  and 
Oo  dai  ben.  This  is  a  very  responsible  office;  all  the  busi- 
ness of  the  board  passes  through  the  hands  of  the  officers. 
They  superintend  and  set  apart  to  each  of  the  minor  offices 
their  business. 

Sa  chiu  ben  and  Oo  chiu  ben,  two  men. 

Sa  sho  ben  and  Oo  sho  ben,  two  men. 

These  are  subordinates  in  the  office,  but  men  of  rank. 

Gonno  ben.  This  is  an  honorific  title,  giving  high  rank, 
but  having  no  business  or  duties  to  perform. 

The  Ben-gwang  officers  are  always  in  their  handsome 
official  dress,  and  are  at  once  recognizable  on  the  street. 

Shi,  eight  men.  Their  business  is  to  act  as  bookkeepers 
or  registrars  of  the  transactions  of  the  board;  they  take 
charge  of  the 'books,  and  are  referred  to  for  information  of 
past  transactions. 

Sa  and  Oo  dai  shi,  four  men. 

Si  sho,  twenty  men,  attendants  of  the  three  high  officers. 

Kwa  jo,  four  men,  attendants  of  the  Ben-gwang.  Though 
low,  the  office  is  an  important  one. 

HATCH   SHIO,  THE   EIGHT   BOARDS 

The  eight  boards  under  the  Dai  jo  gwang  are : 

1.  Nakatskasa  no  sho.  5.  Hio  bu  sho  (Ch.,  Ping  po). 

2.  Siki  bu  sho  (Ch.,  Li  po).      6.  Gio  bu  sho  (Ch.,  Ying  po). 

3.  Ji  bu  sho  (Ch.,  Li  po).         7.  Okuranosho  (Ch.,  Ta  fusz). 

4.  Min  bu  sho  (Ch.,  U  po).      8.  Koo  nai  sho  (Ch.,  Kung  po). 


62  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

I.  Nakatskasa  no  sho,  or  Naka  no  matsuri  koto  sum 
tskasa  (equivalent  office  in  China,  Chang  shu  shang). — The 
Board  of  the  Interior  Government,  superintends  the  palace 
and  the  affairs  of  the  Emperor,  and  regulates  the  imperial 
household. 

The  head  man,  Nakatskasa  no  kio,  is  always  of  very  high 
rank — generally  a  son  of  the  Emperor,  or  of  one  of  the  royal 
families. 

Nakatskasa  no  ta  yu,  chamberlain  of  the  household. 

Nakatskasa  no  gonno  tayu  is  always  a  Mayka  no  tenjio 
bito^koongay. 

Nakatskasa  no  shoyu. 

Nakatskasa  no  gonno  shoyu. 

Nakatskasa  no  dai  and  sho  jio,  subordinates  of  the  above. 

Nakatskasa  no  dai  and  sho  sakkan,  secretaries. 

Dji  jiu,  eight  men  of  high  rank. 

Wo  do  neri,  ninety  men  of  low  rank ;  clean  rooms,  etc. 

Neiki,  writers  to  the  Emperor's  dictation,  or  for  his  perusal 
on  government  business;  correspond  about  conferring  rank, 
and  write  out  documents  connected  with  this.  They  are 
always  able  men,  and  any  man  may  rise  to  fill  this  office 
if  he  shows  talent. 

Dai  neiki,  one  man ;  sho  neiki,  two  men ;  the  latter  sub- 
ordinates and  successors  of  the  former. 

Kemmootz,  Dai  and  Sho,  two  men. 

These  are  the  reporters  or  spies  (ometskys)  upon  the  officers 
of  the  whole  board — literally,  lookers  into  things  (kien  wuh). 

Sho  den,  one  man  of  low  rank  to  superintend  the  servants 
and  to  see  that  rooms  are  cleaned,  etc. 

Kangee  no  tskasa,  keepers  of  the  keys,  now  done  away 
with. 

Included  under  this  department  are  the  establishments  of 
the  Emperor's  grandmother,  mother,  and  wife.  These  are 
called  the  Shi  ngoo — four  offices. 

The  office  of  the  Emperor's  grandmother  is  Tai  kwo  tai 
kowu  goo  siki,  the  great  Emperor's  great  Empress's  office. 

That  of  the  mother,  Kwo  tai  kowu  goo  siki. 


THE   EIGHT   BOARDS   OF   GOVERNMENT.  63 

That  of  the  wife  having  a  child,  Kwo  tai  kowu  goo  siki. 

That  of  the  wife  before  she  has  a  child,  Chiii  ngoo  siki. 

The  ladies  rank  as  Dai  nagoon. 

Under  the  Nakatskasa  no  shio  there  are  several  minor 
boards  or  rio. 

O  do  neri  no  rio. — In  this  office  there  were  formerly  800 
men  about  the  court,  as  messengers,  servants,  etc. 

Odoneri  no  kami,  Ske,  etc. 

Dsu  sho  rio,  surveying  office  for  plans  of  houses,  maps  of 
towns,  country,  harbors,  seas,  etc. 

Dsu  sho  no  kami,  Ske,  etc. 

Koora  rio,  storehouse  officer,  has  charge  of  the  valuables 
belonging  to  the  palace — a  responsible  office. 

Officers — Koora  no  kami,  K.  no  gonno  kami,  K.  no 
ske,  etc. 

Noo  ee  rio  superintends  the  making  the  clothes  and  sew- 
ing generally  of  the  palace. 

Noo  ee  no  kami,  N.  no  ske,  N.  no  gonno  ske,  etc. 

Ong  yo  rio  (literally,  clear  obscure  office),  department 
of  astrology — composer  of  the  almanac — observers  of  the 
heavens. 

Ong  yo  no  kami,  O.  no  ske,  etc.  Ong  yo  no  haka  se  and 
Gonno  haka  se,  teacher  of  astrology. 

Rayki  haka  se,  composer  of  the  almanac  and  teacher. 

Ten  mong  haka  se,  astronomer-royal. 

Ro  koku  haka  se,  keeper  of  time  by  the  clepsydra ;  teacher 
of  time-keeping. 

Taku  mi  rio,  office  of  the  carpenters,  woodworkers.  Taku 
mi  no  kami,  etc. 

Palaces,  temples,  houses  and  bridges  in  Japan  being,  for 
fear  of  earthquakes,  nearly  entirely  built  of  wood,  the  trade 
of  carpenter  rises  to  a  science,  and,  including  architecture 
and  engineering,  is  a  business  or  profession  which  is  held  in 
high  respect. 

In  the  official  list  mention  is  not  made  of  the  head  man 
of  the  tanner  class,  or  that  which  deals  in  skins  of  dead 
animals,  which  occupation  is  an  abomination  to  the  pure 


64  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

Buddhist.  The  name  of  the  class  is  Yayta.  They  live  in 
Yayta  mura  or  village  of  skinners,  often  called  Yakunin 
mura.  The  head  man  is  Kobowozi.  His  duty  is  to  go  every 
day  to  the  palace  and  clear  away  all  dead  animals — rats, 
mice,  birds.  He  wears  two  swords,  and  is  generally  hand- 
somely dressed.  The  class  belongs  to  the  Ikkoshiu  sect  of 
Buddhists.  Some  of  the  men  following  this  trade  are  very 
rich.  Teikoya  in  Osaka  and  Siroyama  in  Yedo  are  both 
wealthy.  The  head  skinner  of  the  "eight  provinces,"  Danza 
yay  mong,  claims  to  be  descended  from  Yoritomo.  He  also 
is  reputed  to  be  very  wealthy,  exercising  great  power  over 
his  own  trade,  which  is  governed  by  its  own  laws.  Living 
in  a  fine  house  near  the  Yosiwara  in  Yedo,  he  is  a  despotic 
ruler,  and  can  punish  with  death  those  under  him.  His  pri- 
vate chapel  or  Bootzu  dang  is  said  to  be  the  finest  in  Yedo. 

II.  Siki  bu  shio  (Chinese,  Shik  po  shang ;  Chinese  equiva- 
lent office,  Li  po),  the  Board  of  Civil  Office.  Has  legislative 
functions,  and  under  this  board  is  the  department  of  public 
instruction  and  the  college.  The  head  man  of  the  board  is 
the  Siki  bu  kio.  He  is  generally  a  Sinwo,  or  a  member  of 
the  imperial  family.  If  the  Kio  be  an  able,  energetic  man, 
his  position  enables  him  to  obtain  great  power,  and  he  may 
become  the  first  man  in  the  empire.  Formerly,  men  known 
by  the  name  Si  sho  were  sent  by  the  board  to  all  the  prov- 
inces to  report  on  the  government  of  each.  They  were 
changed  every  four  years,  but  the  custom  has  become 
obsolete. 

Siki  bu  no  Tayu. 

Siki  bu  no  Gonno  Tayu,  both  men  of  high  rank,  who 
practically  carry  on  the  business  of  the  board. 

Siki  bu  no  She  yu  and  Gonno  sho  yu,  etc. 

Under  this  board  is  the  Dai  gaku  rio  (Ch.  equivalent, 
Kwoh  tsz  kien),  office  of  instruction  or  education.  The  head 
man  is  Dai  gaku  no  kami.  This  office  is  divided  into  four 
sub-classes,  which  have  to  do  with  the  instruction  conveyed 
in  books  and  literature  to  the  people. 

1.  Ray  ki  shi,  history,  including  the  history  of  China  and 


THE   EIGHT   BOARDS   OF   GOVERNMENT.  65 

Japan  and  a  little  of  India  and  Ceylon,  as  Buddhist  coun- 
tries. 

2.  Migio,  religion — originally  Sinto  religion  only. 

3.  Mio  bo,  laws  and  jurisprudence. 

4.  Santo,  mathematics,  arithmetic. 
These  are  called  the  four  paths,  Shi  do. 

Besides  these  officers  there  are  teachers  or  professors 
named  Haka  se  (pok  sz). 

1.  Munjo  haka  se,  two  men;  teachers  of  history,  other- 
wise called  Shiu  sai. 

2.  Mio  gio  haka  se,  teacher  of  religion  and  the  works  of 
Confucius. 

Jokio,  two  men.     Chokko  ko,  two  men. 
On  no  haka  se,  two  men,  teachers  of  music. 
Sho  haka  se,  two  men,  teachers  of  writing. 

3.  Mio  bo  haka  se,  two  men,  professors  of  jurisprudence. 

4.  Sang  no  haka  se — teachers  of  mathematics,  arithmetic 
— two  men.     Is  always  in  two  families,  Mio  shi  and  Otsu 
ngi.     The  former  teaches  arithmetic  and  the  abacus;   the 
latter  teaches  the  science  of  taxation. 

III.  Ji  bu  shio  (Chinese  office,  Lai  po).  This  board  deals 
with  the  forms  of  society,  manners,  etiquette,  worship,  cere- 
monies for  the  living  and  the  dead,  etc. 

Ji  bu  kio,  the  head  officer  of  the  board,  of  very  high  rank. 

Ji  bu  no  tayu,  two  men ;  Ji  bu  no  gonno  tayu,  two  men,  etc. 

Oota  rio  (Ch.,  Ya  yoh),  a  department  of  the  board — 
superintends  music  and  poetry  in  all  its  branches. 

Oota  no  kami,  etc. 

Gengba  rio  is  another  department,  called  also  O  shi  maro 
wo  dono:  takes  charge  of  embassies  from  outer  countries — 
Corea,  China,  and  India;  looks  after  Buddhism.  All  busi- 
ness connected  with  foreign  countries  comes  within  the  scope 
of  this  office. 

Genba  no  kami,  head  officer,  Ske,  etc. 

Misasaki  rio,  an  officer  to  look  after  the  tombs  of  the 
Emperors. 

Misasaki  no  kami  is  head  officer. 


66  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

IV.  Min  bu  sho  (Chinese,  Min  po  shang) — Chin,  office, 
Upo,   board  of  population  and  revenue.     Tame  no  tskasa, 
board  of  the  population — states,  provinces,  land,  houses,  cen- 
sus.    In  this  office  is  kept  a  book  or  register  for  the  regis- 
tration of  all  deeds  connected  with  land  and  landed  property, 
surveys,  and  statistics  of  the  empire.      The  book  is  called 
"Min  bu  shio  no  dzu  sho." 

Miu  bu  kio,  head  officer,  of  high  rank. 

Min  bu  no  Tayu.*     M.  Gonno  Tayu. 

Min  bu  no  sho,  etc. 

Kadzuye  no,  the  office  for  taxes  paid  in  money.  Officers 
— Kami,  Ske,  jo,  and  sakkan. 

San  shi,  office  for  money  taken  in  country  places  only. 

Chikara  rio,  so  mewhat  similar  to  the  above ;  taxes  paid 
in  kind,  rice,  etc.  The  office  is  now  merged  in  the  Kadzuye 
rio. 

V.  Hio  bu  sho  (Chinese  office,  Ping  po),  Board  of  War — 
war-office.      This  is  the  most  important  department. 

Hio  bu  kioh,  the  head  officer,  is  sometimes  of  the  imperial 
blood. 

Hio  bu  no  tayu.     H.  no  Gonno  tayu,  sho,  etc. 

Hyato  no  tskasa,  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  police  in  case  of 
war.  Hyato  no  kami,  ske,  and  sakkan. 

VI.  Gio  bu  shio  (Chinese  office,  Ying  po),  board  of  pun- 
ishments.    The  name  is  changed  to  Ke  be  ishi,  which  in- 
cludes the  criminal  courts,  with  the  machinery  necessary  to 
their  working,  but  the  titles  remain. 

Gio  bu  Kioh,  head  of  the  office. 

Gio  bu  Tayu,  Gonno  tayu,  sho,  etc. 

Dai  han  ji,  the  first  judge. 

This  officer  is  the  judge  of  civil  and  criminal  cases.  There 
are  no  barristers  or  advocates  used  in  the  law  courts  of  Japan. 
Each  man  states  his  own  case. 

Shiu  goku  ji — prison  department. 

*  This  was  the  title  of  the  young  man  living  in  Paris  in 
1867.  Commonly  called  brother  of  the  Tycoon. 


THE   EIGHT   BOARDS   OF   GOVERNMENT.  67 

Shiu  goku  no  kami,  ske,  etc. 

As  this  title  is  supposed  to  convey  some  disgrace  with  it, 
no  one  considers  it  an  honor,  and  therefore  it  is  generally 
combined  with  some  other. 

VII.  Okura  no  shio  (Chinese  office,  Tafu  sz),  officer  over 
the  imperial  storehouses  and  granaries. 

O  kura  kio  is  an  officer  of  high  rank. 
O  kura  no  tayu,  O  kura  no  Goiino  tayu,  etc. 
Ori  be  no  tskasa,  weavers  of  the  imperial  silks. 
Ori  be  no  kami,  etc. 

VIII.  Koo  nai  shio,  the  board  of  the  interior  of  the  pal- 
ace; was  formerly  a  department  of  the  Naka  tskasa  shio. 
Superintends  the  furniture,  food,  pathways,  etc. 

Koo  nai  kio,  first  officer,  of  high  rank. 

Koo  nai  no  tayu,  and  Gonno  tayu. 

Koo  nai  no  sho  and  Gonno  sho,  all  of  high  rank. 

Koo  no  dai  jo  and  sho  jo,  etc. 

Dai  zen  siki,  purveyor  to  the  Emperor's  guests. 

Dai  zen  no  daibu,  first  officer.  The  Prince  of  Nagato, 
Matzdaira  Daizen  no  daibu,  holds  this  office. 

Dai  zen  no  Gonno  daibu,  of  high  rank. 

Dai  zen  no  ske  and  Gonno  ske. 

This  was  formerly  the  highest  ske  at  court. 

Mokoo  rio,  officer  of  carpenter  and  woodwork  about  the 
palace. 

Mokoo  no  kami,  high  rank. 

Mokoo  no  Gonno  kami,  etc. 

San  shi,  book-keepers. 

Oee  rio,  purveyor  of  food  for  the  gods  of  the  palace. 

Oee  no  kami,  one  man.  This  is  said  to  be  a  lucrative 
office;  probably  much  is  provided  and  little  consumed. 

Oee  no  ske  and  Gonno  ske,  etc. 

Tonomo  rio,  department  for  superintending  the  cleaning 
of  the  palace. 

T.  no  kami,  etc. 

Ten  yaku  rio — medical  department — two  apothecaries, 
medical  attendants  upon  the  Emperor,  etc. 


68  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

Ten  yaku  no  kami,  etc. 

Ee  no  haka  se,  teachers  of  medicine. 

Nio  yee  haka  se,  teachers  of  diseases  of  women. 

Shin  no  haka  se,  teachers  of  acupuncture. 

Jee  yee,  one  man — Emperor's  personal  medical  attendant. 

Ee  shi,  similar,  but  of  lower  rank. 

Kammon  rio  (Ch.,  Si  sau  shii),  scavenger  department  in 
the  palace. 

Kammon  no  kami — the  Daimio  Ee  holds  this  title.  In 
1859  this  Daimio  was  regent  under  the  Shiogoon's  govern- 
ment, and  was  assassinated  in  the  streets  of  Yedo. 

Kammon  no  ske,  etc. 

O  Kimi  tskasa,  chamberlains  to  the  Sinwo  or  royal 
families. 

O  Kimi  no  kami  is  hereditary  in  the  family  of  Owo. 

Nai  zen  shi,  purveyor  of  provisions  for  the  imperial  house- 
hold. 

Nei  zen  no  kami,  obsolete. 

Bu  zen  no  kami  fills  the  office  above. 

Ten  zen,  of  low  rank. 

Miki  tskasa,  office  for  presenting  wine  to  the  gods  in  the 
palace.  Upon  every  household  altar  in  Japan  is  seen  a  small 
bottle  of  wine. 

Miki  no  kami,  etc. 

Ooneme  tskasa,  overseer  of  the  female  officers  of  the 
palace,  O.  no  kami  and  O.  no  sakkan. 

Hondo  no  tskasa,  superintends  the  water  supplied  to  the 
palace,  M.  no  kami,  M.  no  sakkan. 

These  (the  Ooneme  and  the  Mondo)  are  the  two  lowest 
offices  in  the  eight  boards.  In  the  offices  about  the  court  the 
subordinate  officers  under  the  rank  of  kami  are  known  by 
the  general  name  of  Shi  kwang. 

The  second  part  of  the  Shoku  gen  sho  relates  to  the  Boo 
kang,  executive  and  military  departments. 

Dan  jo  dai  (Ch.,  Yu  shi  t'ai),  was  formerly  at  Miako,  is 
now  at  Yedo.  The  Kebe  ishi  at  Miako  seems  to  be  what 
remains  of  the  office  at  that  place.  The  office  has  very  great 


THE   EIGHT  BOARDS    OF   GOVERNMENT.  69 

power,  acting  apparently  as  police  of  the  empire,  the  busi- 
ness being  to  arrest  criminals  of  all  descriptions.  The  office 
is  within  the  inclosure  of  the  castle  at  Yedo. 

The  head  officer  is  the  Dan  jo  in.  He  is  of  very  high 
rank — sometimes  of  one  of  the  royal  families,  or  one  of  the 
three  highest  ministers. 

The  second  is  Dan  jo  no  dai  hitz;  below  him,  D.  sho 
hitz,  etc. 

Sa  kio  siki,  office  of  the  left  half  of  Miako. 

Sa  kio  no  daibu,  mayor  or  governor  of  high  rank — now 
has  but  little  power,  as  the  business  is  transferred  to  the 
Kebe  ishi  office. 

Under  the  Sa  kio  siki  is  To  itchi  tskasa,  superintendent 
of  the  east  market. 

To  itchi  no  Kami. 

Go  kio  siki,  office  of  the  right  half  of  Miako ;  similar  to 
the  above.  Oo  kio  no  kami,  and  the  office  of  Sei  itchi  tskasa, 
superintendent  of  the  west  market. 

To  ngoo,  office  of  the  heir-apparent,  son  of  Emperor. 

To  ngoo  no  fu,  head  of  the  office. 

To  ngoo  no  yaku  shi,  two  men,  teachers  of  the  prince — 
are  always  either  Munjo  haka  se,  or  Mio  gio  haka  se,  and 
of  the  families  of  Sungawara  or  Owe.  To  ngoo  no  bo  keeps 
the  prince's  accounts.  To  ngoo  no  daibu  is  always  Dai  jo 
dai  jin,  or  Kwanbakku,  or  son  of  one  of  the  highest  ministers. 

To  ngoo  no  gonno  daibu,  etc. 

Shuzen  Kang,  purveyor  for  the  prince.  He  is  always 
Nei  zen  no  kami  to  the  Emperor. 

To  no  mo  sho,  keeper  of  the  chambers  of  the  prince. 

To  ngoo  no  shunen  sho,  keeper  of  the  horses  of  the  prince. 

Isse  no  sei  goo  rio,  or  Sei  ki  no  mia  no  tskasa.  This  was 
an  old  office  in  connection  with  the  Emperor's  daughters, 
who  officiated  as  priestesses  at  Isse.  It  is  now  obsolete.  In 
the  year  5  B.C.  the  Emperor  Sei  Nin  established  his  daughter 
at  Isse  as  priestess  of  the  temple  he  had  built  in  honor 
of  Ten  shio  dai  jin.  He  gave  her  the  title  of  Seigoo  or 
Sai  koo. 


70  HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

Shuri  siki  (Ch.,  siu  li  chih),  carpenters  of  the  Buddhist 
temples. 

Shuri  no  daibu.  This  office  is  filled  by  the  Daimio  of  Sat- 
suma,  "Shimadzu  shuri  no  daibu." 

Sh.  no  gonno  daibu,  etc. 

Kangay  yushi.  This  seems  to  be  a  military  board  of  de- 
liberation. Kangay  yu  no  cho  gwang  of  high  rank. 

Kangay  yu  no  ji  kwang,  one  man  of  high  rank,  generally 
a  Ben  gwang.  This  is  a  very  high  office;  the  officers  are 
always  known  from  their  fine  dress. 

K.  no  hang  gwang,  military  secretaries  in  the  office. 

Shuzen  shi,  the  Mint. 

The  Mint  is  not  now  at  Miako,  but  at  Yedo,  where  the 
Shiogoon's  officers  keep  it  in  their  own  hands. 

Shuri  goo  jo  shi,  superintendent  of  Sintoo  temples  or  mias. 
Head  officer  is  always  a  Ben  gwang. 

Dzo  ji  shi,  superintendents  of  Buddhist  temples. 

Bo  wo  ngashi,  military  man,  superintends  the  banks  of 
the  Kamongawa,  a  river  at  Miako.  Is  at  the  same  time  Ta 
yee  no  ske. 

Se  yaku  in,  doctors  for  the  poor  in  Miako. 

Ke  bi  ishi,  Police  and  Executive.  The  Kangay  yu  no  cho, 
the  Gio  bu  shio,  and  the  Kebi  ishi,  are  now  merged  in  one 
department,  to  which  all  the  Kokushiu  Daimios,  the  Dai  jo 
gwang,  Giobushio,  the  Ometski,  and  city  governors  belong, 
and  is  very  important. 

The  head  officer  is  Kebi  ishi  no  bettowo,  a  military  man 
of  higher  rank  than  the  Sanghi.  There  is  a  saying  that  a 
Kebi  ishi  no  bettowo  should  have  seven  virtues.  These  seven 
virtues,  the  book  remarks,  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  in  one 
man.  K.  no  bettowo  is  one  of  the  men  with  most  power 
over  the  natives  in  the  empire. 

K.  no  ske,  two  men.  They  are  commonly  known  as  Ta 
yee  no  ske,  and  every  one  in  Miako  can  recognize  them  at 
once  by  their  dress. 

Then  follow  the  titles  of  men  as  heads  of  some  of  the  large 
families  or  clans  of  Japan. 


THE  EIGHT  BOARDS   OF   GOVERNMENT.  71 

Fusi  wara  ooji  no  choja  (chang  shang),  the  head  of  the 
clan  Fusiwara.  By  men  of  this  clan  all  high  civil  offices 
are  filled.  The  offices  of  Sessio  and  Kwanbakku  are  filled 
by  members  of  this  family.  When  the  country  is  torn  by 
civil  war,  then  he  who  gets  the  power  may  take  the  title,  as 
in  the  case  of  Taiko  sma  and  his  son. 

Genji  no  Choja,  the  head  of  the  family  of  Gen.  Gen  and 
Minnamoto  are  the  same  name  (Ch.,  un,  a  spring  of  water). 
It  is  supposed  to  be  pre-eminently  military,  and  having  gained 
the  upper  hand  in  the  long  civil  wars  with  the  He  family,  it 
has  advanced  in  honor,  especially  under  the  present  dynasty 
of  Shiogoons,  who  call  themseives  Minnamoto. 

The  Shiogoon  is  Minnamoto  no  choja,  and  as  holding  this 
title  he  now  is  also  Shiungaku  in  no  bettowo,  or  principal  of 
the  college  of  Shiungaku  in,  formerly  in  Miako,  now  in  Yedo. 
He  is  also  head  of  the  college  Joone  wa  in. 

Then  follow  some  of  the  officers  more  immediately  about 
the  Emperor's  person. 

Nai  keoo  bo  no  bettowo,  office  of  music  for  the  ladies, 
generally  held  by  a  man  of  high  rank,  with  some  knowledge 
of  music. 

Nai  zen  no  bettowo,  examiner  or  presenter  of  the  Em- 
peror's food,  of  high  rank. 

Mi  dzu  shi  dokoro  no  bettowo,  superintendent  of  the 
kitchen  in  the  palace,  is  always  Kura  no  kami. 

O  oota  dokoro  no  bettowo,  superintendent  of  singing  and 
poetry,  an  officer  of  very  high  rank,  sometimes  one  of  the 
royal  family. 

Ki  roku  dokoro  no  bettowo.  Every  day  there  meet  hi 
the  Emperor's  study,  or  Ki  roku,  this  officer,  who  is  of 
Koongio  rank,  one  of  the  Ben  gwang,  one  Kaiko,  and  one 
Yori  oodo,  who  come  to  write  for  the  Emperor. 

Kaku  sho  no  bettowo,  superintendent  of  a  certain  kind 
of  music  (Yoh). 

Kuro  wu  do  or  Kurodo  dokoro,  an  important  depart- 
ment in  the  palace.  The  Emperor  Saga,  A.D.  810,  com- 
menced  the  office.  The  officers  seem  to  be  noble  attend? 


72  HISTORY    OF'   JAPAN. 

ants  on  the  Emperor's  person,  and  to  appear  about  him 
when  in  public. 

Kurodo  no  Bettowo  is  an  office  held  by  one  of  the  highest 
ministers — Kwanbakku  or  Sadaijin. 

Kurodo  no  To  (or  Tono  kurodo  dokoro),  two  officers,  one 
Ben  gwang,  one  military. 

Go-i  (fifth  rank)  kuro  do  dokoro,  three  officers,  civilians, 
always  rise  from  this  to  higher  rank :  first,  to  Hatch  shio  no 
ske,  then  to  Kangay  yu  no  jikang,  to  Kebe  ishi  no  ske,  to 
Tono  Kurodo,  and  to  Sanghi.  Therefore  this  place  is  sought 
after  by  the  Kindatchi  (sons  of  Go  sekkay),  as  it  brings  them 
prominently  forward ;  but  it  is  an  office  requiring  great  energy 
and  exactness,  and  mistakes  are  apt  to  bring  the  officer  to 
trouble.  The  dress  of  the  K.  no  To  is  somewhat  similar  in 
color  to  the  Emperor's. 

Roko-i  (sixth  rank)  no  kurodo,  four  officers.  Must  be 
sons  of  Shodaibu  (fifth  rank);  must  be  able  and  of  good 
courage,  and  steady  men.  The  first  officer  gets  as  his  per- 
quisite the  kikuji  no  ho,  the  used  outer  clothes  of  the  Em- 
peror, of  yellow  and  green  colors  mixed.  One  of  the  lower 
officers  gets  the  inner  white  silk  dress,  which  is  changed 
every  day.  The  Emperor  never  wears  linen  or  cotton. 

Hi  kurodo,  many,  all  of  low  rank,  and  are  the  men- 
servants  of  the  palace. 

Ko  do  neri,  lower  servants. 

Dzo  siki,  military  officers,  young  men,  guards  of  the 
kurodo. 

TokorO  no  shiu,  attendants. 

Take  ngootchi,  private  soldiers. 

Then  follows  another  short  historical  notice  of  the  Sho 
koku,  all  the  provinces  of  Japan,  to  the  effect  that  formerly 
all  Japan  belonged  to  the  Emperor  Zin  mu,  who  was,  before 
becoming  Emperor,  a  (kami  yoh)  god.  He  came  from 
Miazaki  in  Fiuga,  and  at  the  time  Japan  was  wild  and  bar- 
barous. He  fought  his  way  to  Yamato,  and  made  his  capita] 
Kashiwara. 

At  the  time  of  the  tenth  Emperor,  Shiu  jin,  Kashiwara 


THE   EIGHT  BOARDS   OF   GOVERNMENT.  73 

existed.  He  sent  embassies  to  all  the  separate  princes  of 
Japan.  He  appointed  four  generals  of  the  north,  south,  east 
and  west,  Si  dono  shiogoon,  and,  war  ensuing,  he  conquered 
all  Japan. 

Emperor  Say  mu,  A.D.  150,  the  thirteenth  after  Zin  mu, 
appointed  rulers  over  the  country.  These  were  then  called 
"Kooni  no  miatsko,"  and  he  subsequently  divided  the  empire 
into  provinces.  These  lords  were  afterward  called  "Koku 
shiu,"  and  again  were  known  as  "Kami  to  you." 

The  provinces  were  divided  into — 
Gay  koku,  inferior  provinces. 
Dai  koku,  large  provinces. 
Jo  koku,  superior  provinces. 
Chiu  koku,  central  provinces. 
Ki  nai  koku,  the  five  provinces  round  Miako. 

To  each  of  these  there  were  appointed  officers — kami,  jo, 
ske,  and  sakkan. 

The  provinces  were  classed  together  as  To  kai  do  (eastern 
sea-road),  fifteen  provinces — 1,  Iga;  2,  Isse;  3,  Sima;  4, 
Owarri;  5,  Mikawa;  6,  Tootomi;  7,  Suruga;  8,  Idzu;  9, 
Kahi;  10,  Segami;  11,  Musasi;  12,  Awa;  13,  Kadsusa;  14, 
Simosa;  15,  Hitatsi. 

To  sando  (eastern  Highland),  eight  provinces — 1,  Oomi; 
2,  Mino;  3,  Hida;  4,  Sinano;  5,  KowodsuM;  6,  Simodsuki; 
7,  Mootz;  8,  Dewa. 

Dewa  and  Mootz  are  large  outlying  provinces,  and  one 
Kami  is  not  sufficient,  therefore  another  office  is  established 
there,  "Azetshi  no  foo."  Originally  Mootz  and  Dewa  were 
one.  About  A.D.  713,  in  the  time  of  the  Empress  Gen  mei, 
Mootz  was  divided;  and  the  Empress  Gen  Sio,  who  suc- 
ceeded, created  the  office  of  Azetshi  shi;  and  the  Emperor 
Sio  mu  added  Chinji  foo  and  Fooku  shio  goong,  and  Goon 
king  and  Goon  so.  Azetshi  shi  is  the  chief  officer  of  Mootz, 
and  is  of  high  rank. 

Azetshi  shi  no  keji,  his  secretary. 

Chin  ji  foo  is  another  officer  in  these  provinces,  of  which 
the  head  officer  is  named  Chin  no  shiogoong.  The  Daimio 

4 


74  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

known  as  "Sendai"  is  the  head  man  of  these  provinces,  and, 
as  Kami  of  Mootz,  is  known  also  as  Fooku  shiogoong. 

In  these  provinces  are  the  two  officers  Akita  no  jo  and 
Ske.  The  Emperor  Sio  mu  built  a  fortress  at  Akita,  and 
appointed  an  officer  in  charge.  Dewa  no  ske  and  Akita  no 
ske  are  different  titles  of  the  same  officer. 

Hoku  roku  do,  north-country  provinces  route.  Seven 
provinces — 1,  Wakasa;  2,  Etsizen;  3,  Kanga;  4,  Noto;  5, 
Etjiu;  6,  Etsingo;  7,  Sado. 

San  in  do.  The  back  or  north  Highland  route.  Eight 
provinces — 1,  Tamba;  2,  Tango;  3,  Tajima;  4,  Inaba;  5, 
Hoki;  6,  Idzumo;  7,  Iwami;  8,  Oki. 

San  yo  do.  The  fore  or  south  Highland  route.  Eight 
provinces — 1,  Harima;  2,  Mimmesaka;  3,  Bizen;  4,  Bitsjiu; 

5,  Bingo;  6,  Aki;  7,  Suwo;  8,  Nagato. 

Nankai  do.  Southern  sea  route.  Six  provinces — 1,  Kii; 
2,  Awadsi;  3,  Awa;  4,  Sanuki;  5,  lyo;  6,  Tosa. 

Sei  kai  do.  Western  sea  route  in  Kiusiu.  Eleven  prov- 
inces— 1,  Tsikuzen;  2,  Tsikugo;  3,  Hizen;  4,  Higo;  5,  Buzen; 

6,  Bungo;   7,  Fiuga;  8,  Osumi;   9,  Satsuma;   10,  Iki;    11, 
Tsusima. 

The  Emperor  Siomu  created  an  office  in  the  island  of 
Kiusiu,  Da  zai  fu,  but  it  is  now  done  away  with.  All  the 
lords  of  that  island  were  formerly  required  to  come  to  Miako 
once  every  four  years. 

Military  department.  The  imperial  guards  are  called  Sho 
ye  (Ch.,  Chu  wei),  "all  keep." 

Sa  kon  ye  fu,  and  Oo  k.,  office  of  the  left  and  right 
guards.  A  military  office  is  Jing,  or  Goong,  or  Oo  rin  goong, 
or  Ye  fu  no  jing. 

Tai  sho,  generally  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  is 
sometimes  called  Shiogoon  and  Baku  foo,  is  always  of  the 
highest  rank,  his  office  making  him  of  equal  rank  with  the 
Sadaijin. 

Besides  the  Tai  sho  there  are  two  officers,  the  Sa  and  Oo 
daisho ;  sometimes  called  Sakonye  no  taisho.  The  Sadaisho 
is  the  superior  officer. 


THE   EIGHT   BOARDS    OF  GOVERNMENT.  75 

Chiujo,  lieutenant-generals  of  the  guards,  four,  or  at 
times  six,  officers. 

Sa  kon  ye  no  Chiujo  and  Oo  kon  ye,  men  of  high  rank. 

Shojo  (small  general),  major-general.  Of  these  there  are 
uight  or  ten.  Are  also  of  high  rank,  especially  if  appointed 
while  young. 

Shogeng.     Military  offices  of  inferior  rank  to  the  above. 

Shoso.     Secretaries;  adjutants. 

Banjiu.  Also  called  Konye  no  to  neri — servants.  All 
the  officers  above  are  near  the  Emperor  as  guards. 

Gay  ye.     Outer  guards. 

The  office  is  Sa  (and  Oo)  ye  mon  no  foo.  The  Emperor 
Sanga  changed  the  name  from  Ye  ji  no  foo. 

Sa  ye  mon  DO  Kami. 

Sa  ye  mon  no  ske,  etc. 

Sa  (or  Oo)  hio  ye  no  foo  is  another  office. 

Sa  (or  Oo)  hio  ye  no  Kami  is  head  officer  of  high  rank. 
This  officer  is  frequently  mentioned  by  the  Jesuits. 

Sa  hio  ye  no  ske. 

Oo  hio  ye  no  ske,  etc. 

Soma  rio  or  Sa-oo  ma  rio.  The  office  of  right  or  left 
superintendent  of  the  cavalry. 

Sa  ma  no  Kami. ;  Oo  ma  no  Kami.     Both  of  high  rank. 

Sa  ma  no  gonno  Kami ;  Oo  ma  no  gonno  Kami. 

Ske  and  Gonno  Ske.     These  take  rank  above  all  other  ske. 

Sa  and  Oo  ma  no  dai  jo  and  shojo.  This  is  the  first  rank 
attained  by  a  commissioned  officer  in  the  army. 

Hio  ngo  rio.     Ordnance  storehouse. 

Hio  no  Kami.     One  officer; 

Gay  boo  no  Kwang.  The  outer  military  department. 
The  army  in  distinction  from  the  guards. 

The  annals  of  the  army  are  very  ancient.  In  Tenshio 
dai  jin's  time,  the  title  of  the  commander-in-chief  was  Fu 
dzu  nushino  kami,  known  by  his  posthumous  honors  and  title 
as  Kashima  Mio  jin  in  Hitatsi  province.  The  title  of  Shio- 
goon  (tsiang  kiun)  was  first  used  by  the  Emperor  Shiu  jin 
50  B.C.  In  the  Emperor  Kei  ko's  tune,  his  son,  Yamato 


76  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

taki  no  mikoto,  was  dai  shiogoon,  and  there  were  two  others, 
Sa  and  Oo  shiogoon.  This  Yamato  overran  all  Japan  and 
the  island  of  Yezo,  also  the  three  countries  of  Sinra,  Corea, 
and  Haxai  or  Hiakusai,  provinces  of  what  is  now  known  as 
Corea,  and  put  into  them  Japanese  offices  and  officers;  and 
after  that  commenced  Goonfoo  or  military  offices,  or,  in 
short,  a  standing  army. 

Chinjiu  foo.  Office  for  northern  provinces.  C.  no  Shio- 
goon, an  officer  who  is  general  and  commander-in-chief  in 
the  provinces  of  Mootz  and  Dewa.  Mootz  no  Kami  (Sendai) 
is  generally  the  hereditary  Shiogoon  of  these  provinces.  He 
is  bound  to  keep,  in  the  two  provinces,  an  army  of  5,000  men. 

Chinji  foo  no  fooku  shiogoon  is  an  officer  called  out  only 
during  war. 

Chinji  foo  no  goon  kan,  etc. 

Se  i  dai  Shiogoon  (Ch.,  Tsing  i  ta  tsiang  kiun),  tranquil- 
izer  of  barbarians;  great  army  general.  Yamato  take  no 
mikoto  was  the  first  called  Tai  shiogoon.  Se  i  was  a  title  first 
given  to  Bunya  no  wata  maro  for  bringing  all  the  wild  north- 
ern part  of  Japan  under  rule.  This  is  the  officer  known  to 
foreigners  as  Tycoon. 

Se  i  shi.     The  office  of  the  tranquilizer  of  barbarians. 

Sei  fu  is  one  name  by  which  the  Shiogoon 's  castle  in  Yedo 
is  known.  This  title — and  it  is  now  only  a  title — has  for  long 
been  in  the  Minnamoto  family.  Yoritomo  was  Sei  Shiogoon 
(not  Kubosama,  as  Ksempfer  says). 

Sinwo.     Imperial  families;  previously  explained. 

Koongio.  This  class  includes  all  of  the  three  first  ranks, 
and  Sanghi,  though  of  fourth  rank.  Only  three  men  have 
been  of  the  first  rank  and  first  class  while  alive,  Tatchibanna 
moroye,  A.D.  749;  Fusiwara  no  Oshikatz,  762,  a  great  tyrant; 
and  Nangatte,  so  bad  a  man  that  the  book  will  not  say  when 
he  lived,  A.D.  770,  780.  These  three  men  all  lived  and  rose 
to  power  one  after  the  other  during  the  reign  of  Koken  the 
Empress.  This  woman  is  notorious  in  Japanese  history  for 
her  outrage  of  morality  in  her  conduct  with  Dokio,  a  priest. 
She  seems  to  have  shown  talent  and  capacity  in  her  public 


THE   EIGHT   BOARDS    OF   GOVERNMENT.  77 

position,  and  reascended  the  throne  as  Shio  toku  after  one 
abdication. 

Daijodaijin,  Kwanbakku,  Sessio,  Sa  and  Oo  daijin,  pre- 
viously explained. 

8ho  shin,  all  beneath  the  third  rank,  including  Tenjio  bito 
and  Jeengay,  being  so  called,  includes  some  Koongays  and 
all  the  Daimios. 

Kindatchi,  sons  of  the  Gosekkay. 

Sho  dai  bu,  officers  of  the  fifth  rank  and  below. 

Samurai  are  all  military  men  and  civilians  who  are  inde- 
pendent of  trade  or  farming. 

The  Emperor's  wife  has  the  title  of  Ko-ngoo. 

The  Emperor's  widow  has  the  title  of  Nioying. 

The  Emperor's  daughter  has  the  title  of  Nei  shin  wo. 

The  female  attendants  are  called  Jo  wo  ro. 

The  female  inferiors  are  called  Ko  jowo  ro  and  Chiu  ro. 

The  female  lowest  class  are  called  Gay  ro. 

Then  follow  the  titles  of  Buddhist  officials  in  temples, 
such  as — 1,  Dai  so  jo,  equal  in  rank  to  Shanghi;  2,  Ho  yin; 
3,  Ho-moo;  4,  Sowodz  and  Gonno  Sowodz;  5,  Ho-ngong; 
6,  Bis  shi. 

There  are  different  titles  of  inferior  orders  of  priests  who 
have  to  do  with  ritual,  worship,  funerals,  etc. 

The  above  gives  an  imperfect  sketch  of  the  offices,  with 
the  titles,  ranks,  and  degrees,  of  the  officers  connected  with 
the  government  of  Japan.  Such  information  is  at  the  best 
uninteresting ;  but  when  it  is  conveyed  in  names  which  have 
no  meaning,  it  becomes,  without  some  practical  acquaintance 
with  the  country,  as  difficult  as  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to 
master  the  subject.  But  to  one  living  in  the  country  this 
knowledge  is  indispensable,  and  even  for  reading  the  letters 
of  the  old  Jesuits,  who  seem  to  have  been  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  names  in  common  use  by  the  people,  some 
such  information  is  very  needful.  Thus  we  find,  among 
many  others,  they  speaic  of  Toronosqui  as  Cauzuye  dono, 
and  of  Don  Austin  as  Chikara  dono,  titles  which  are  ren- 


78  HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

dered  in  the  above  list  as  Kadznyay  no  Kami  and  Chikara 
no  Kami.  These  titles,  as  has  been  said,  are  in  use  at  the 
present  day,  but  they  refer  more  to  the  old  form  of  govern- 
ment of  Miako,  which  has  been  supplanted  by  the  more 
recent  imitation  of  it  at  Yedo.  The  latter  having  retained 
the  whole  executive  in  its  hands,  the  mere  form  has  been  left 
to  Miako.  Now,  when  the  country  has  begun  to  have  rela- 
tions with  foreign  countries,  the  difficulty  of  the  double  gov- 
ernment is  hanging  over  the  rulers,  who  have  not  yet  seen 
that  one  must  be  swept  away  as  a  thing  no  longer  required. 
The  two  parts  of  the  double  government  come  into  collision 
in  presence  of  third  powers.  The  Government  of  Yedo  is 
still  to  be  explained,  and  the  reader  will  then  be  able  to  see 
how  far  the  opposing  interests  of  the  two  capitals  throw 
difficulties  hi  the  way  of  smooth  progress. 


CHAPTER    III 

HISTORY  OP  THE  EMPIRE  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  NOBU  NANGA 

THE  period  of  the  history  of  Japan  which  has  most  inter- 
est to  a  European  is  that  during  which  intercourse  was  car- 
ried on  with  Europe.  But,  independently  of  this  new  and 
interesting  element  introduced  into  the  country,  this  is,  even 
to  a  Japanese,  the  period  of  the  history  of  his  country  which 
has  most  interest.  It  was  the  termination  of  a  long  succes- 
sion of  bloody  civil  wars,  during  which  the  whole  empire  was 
deluged  with  blood,  lasting  long  enough  to  make  the  country 
a  desert,  the  inhabitants  savages,  when  agriculture  was  to- 
tally neglected,  and  the  knowledge  of  letters  nearly  forgotten. 
Family  ties  were  broken ;  young  men  were  all  soldiers ;  young 
women  were  common  property.  The  Japanese  may  well 
look  upon  the  man  raised  up,  and  who  proved  himself  able 
to  put  an  end  to  such  a  state  of  things,  as  a  hero,  and  think 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  79 

his  family  worthy  of  the  highest  honors.  To  reduce  order 
out  of  chaos,  to  insure  his  country  250  years  of  peace,  during 
which  time  every  one  has  been  able  to  sit  under  his  own  vine, 
and  to  rear  his  family  in  happiness,  and  gather  in  the  fruits 
of  his  labor  in  peace,  may  well  rank  lyeyas  as  among  the 
illustrious  of  men. 

It  is  necessary,  in  order  to  understand  the  working  of  the 
government  as  it  exists  at  present,  to  have  some  knowledge 
of  the  events  which  preceded  and  gradually  led  up  to  the 
period  when  this  change  began. 

In  the  works  of  Klaproth  and  Ksempfer  will  be  found 
notes  of  the  earlier  historical  events  occurring  in  Japan. 
"What  follows  here  is  derived  from  these  and  other  sources, 
and  is  an  attempt  to  notice  some  of  the  more  prominent  im- 
portant events,  and  to  give  some  interest  to  the  subject  by 
bringing  it  down  to  the  present  time.  It  is  unnecessary  in 
such  a  sketch  to  go  back  to  the  time  of  remote  antiquity, 
or  to  try  to  get  glimmerings  of  light  out  of  fables,  such  as 
the  different  generations  of  heavenly  and  earthly  emperors. 
To  notice  shortly  the  more  prominent  characters  and  events 
may  be  deemed  sufficient. 

Among  the  first  of  these  prominent  characters  was  Yamato 
Daki  no  Mikoto,  prince  of  warriors,  commander-in-chief ,  and 
of  the  imperial  family.  He  is  supposed  to  have  lived  during 
the  second  century.  He  overran  the  eastern  and  northern 
parts  of  Japan  as  far  as  the  island  of  Yezo.  A  story  is  told 
of  his  wife  having  thrown  herself  into  the  sea  to  appease  a 
storm,  and  from  his  lamentations  over  her,  as  Atsuma  or 
Adzuma,  the  eastern  provinces  are  spoken  of  as  Adzuma, 
now  sometimes  applied  to  the  east  generally,  and  more  spe- 
cially to  the  inhabitants,  who  are  spoken  of  as  Adzuma  Yebis, 
or  "boors  of  the  east,"  by  way  of  contempt. 

Another  of  these  early  events  in  the  history  of  Japan, 
which  bears  an  interest  even  to  the  present  day,  is  the  inva- 
sion and  conquest  of  the  southern  part  of  Corea  by  the  Em- 
press Jingu  kogu,  known  by  her  husband's  name  as  Chiu  ai 
tenwo,  in  the  third  century.  The  Emperor,  her  husband, 


80  HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

was  the  son  of  the  above-mentioned  Yamato.  She  accom- 
panied him  to  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  whither  he  went  to  put 
down  a  rebellion  among  some  tributary  states ;  but  before 
the  operation  was  accomplished  he  died,  and  she  assumed 
the  reins  of  power.  Her  prime  minister  was  an  old  man, 
Take  ootsi  no  Sukonne.  After  raising  troops,  and  collecting 
ships  to  transport  them  across  the  sea,  she  found  herself  preg- 
nant, but  she  was  fortunate  enough  to  find  a  stone  which  de- 
layed her  accouchement  till  her  return  to  Japan.  Having 
subdued  the  three  countries  of  Sinra,  Korai,  and  Hakusai, 
and  compelled  them  to  give  up  their  treasures  and  to  promise 
to  pay  annual  tribute  to  Japan,  she  returned  to  bury  her  de- 
ceased husband,  and  was  soon  after  delivered  of  a  son,  who 
was  afterward  the  Emperor  Osin,  known  better  by  his  post- 
humous title  of  Hatchimang.  Two  older  sons  of  her  hus- 
band by  a  concubine,  asserting  their  rights  of  primogeniture, 
and  probably  doubting  the  virtues  of  the  stone,  raised  an 
army  to  oppose  the  Empress.  Take  ootsi  was  sent  to  defend 
her  rights,  and  he  put  them  to  flight. 

There  is  no  incident  more  frequently  taken  for  a  subject 
by  painters  in  Japan  than  the  Empress  Jingu  and  her  infant 
in  the  arms  of  the  aged  Take  ootsi.  She  is  worshiped  under 
the  name  of  Kashi  no  dai  mio  jin ;  but  though  her  victories 
threw  more  luster  over  the  arms  of  Japan,  in  foreign  war- 
fare, than  any  previous  reign,  or,  it  may  be  added,  any  sub- 
sequent one,  she  does  not  seem  to  rank  so  high  in  the  estima- 
tion of  her  subjects,  or  in  the  company  of  the  gods,  as  her 
son.  During  his  reign,  Wonin — descended  from  one  of  the 
Emperors  of  China  of  the  Han  dynasty — is  said  to  have  in- 
troduced for  the  first  time  Chinese  letters  from  Corea.  His 
tomb  stands  in  the  neighborhood  of  Osaka,  and  divine  honors 
have  been  accorded  to  him.  As  has  been  remarked,  it  may 
be  doubted  how  far  the  Japanese,  with  their  previous  use 
of  Chinese  titles  and  names  of  gods,  officers  and  men,  could 
have  been  ignorant  up  to  this  time  of  the  art  of  writing.  To 
the  Emperor  Osin,  though  unborn,  appears  to  have  been 
given  the  credit  of  the  conquest  of  Corea.  After  his  death, 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  81 

in  A.D.  313,  divine  honors  were  paid  to  him.  He  was  styled 
and  worshiped  as  the  god  of  war,  and  under  the  title  Hatchi- 
mang-dai  Bosats  he  is  represented  as  an  incarnation  of  the 
Buddha  of  the  eight  banners.  The  largest  temples  have 
been  raised  in  his  honor,  and  every  village,  almost  every 
hill,  has  its  Hatchimang  goo  or  shrine  in  honor  of  Hatchi- 
mang,  the  god  of  war. 

The  introduction  of  Buddhism  was  the  next  event  of  im- 
portance in  the  history  of  Japan.  This  is  said  to  have  taken 
place  toward  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century.  But  it  may 
be  presumed,  when  the  Emperor  receives  the  posthumous 
honor  of  a  Bosat,  or  Bodhisattwa,  in  the  fourth  century, 
either  that  the  title  was  given  long  after  his  decease,  or  that 
the  religion  was  beginning  to  be  introduced  at  an  earlier 
epoch.  In  all  probability  Wonin,  who  had  access  to  the  im- 
perial family,  and  must  have  had  great  influence,  had  sown 
the  seeds  of  the  new  doctrine,  and  had  given  the  title  to  his 
patron.  These  seeds  may  not  have  borne  fruit  for  200  years; 
but  considering  the  communication  in  past  times  with  China, 
it  is  difficult  to  conceive  total  ignorance  of  these  doctrine.  To 
Corea,  therefore,  Japan  was  again  indebted  for  a  religion.  In 
the  year  552,  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Kin  mei,  the 
King  of  Hakkusai,  a  district  of  Corea,  sent  an  embassy  with 
a  present  of  an  image  of  Buddha  Sakya  mooni,  with  Bud- 
dhist books  to  the  Emperor.  The  priests  of  the  old  Sinto  re- 
ligion were  roused,  but  the  new  made  its  way.  The  Sinto 
religion  seems  to  be  all  prayers,  without  any  idea  of  a  being 
to  whom  to  pray  beyond  white  paper,  or  a  mirror,  as  an  em- 
blem of  purity.  The  Buddhist  religion  supplied  this,  and 
presented  what  is  required  by  many  minds,  the  idea  of  a 
pure  life  through  self-denial — self-denial  giving  a  man  power 
over  himself,  and  enabling  him  to  be  the  servant  or  the  mas- 
ter as  his  church  may  require.  During  the  succeeding  reign, 
in  consequence  of  an  epidemic,  some  persecution  of  the  new 
doctrines  was  attempted ;  but  Moumaya  do  no  wosi,  son  of 
the  Emperor,  being  a  convert,  was  very  zealous  in  the  propa- 
gation of  the  faith;  while  Nakatomi,  then  in  power,  and  of 


82  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

the  family  who  superintended  the  Sinto  rites,  opposed  him. 
But  the  son  of  the  Emperor  (known  by  his  Buddhist  name 
Ziou  go  taisi,  or  Sho  to  ku  tai  si)  prevailed.  He  was  ap- 
pointed regent  during  the  reign  of  the  Empress  Sui  ko.  He 
was  a  very  gentle  character,  strictly  acting  up  to  the  injunc- 
tions- of  the  new  faith.  At  his  death,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
seventh  century,  there  were,  according  to  the  Annales,  46 
Buddhist  temples,  816  priests,  and  569  "religieuses"  in  the 
empire. 

The  introduction  of  Buddhism  through  China  and  Corea 
brought  with  it,  as  might  have  been  expected,  some  of  the 
customs  of  these  countries.  The  use  of  the  Nengo  (Nien 
hau ;  i.  e. ,  year  name)  for  marking  events  and  dates  was  one 
of  the  customs  introduced  in  the  year  646  A.D.  A  woman 
ruling  as  Empress  was  another  of  the  changes,  and  was  prob- 
ably used  as  a  means  for  the  consolidation  of  the  new  relig- 
ion. Under  the  Empress  Sui  ko  the  degrees  of  rank  among 
the  officers  of  government,  similar  to  those  used  in  China, 
were  introduced  about  604  A.D.  Six  ranks,  of  two  grades 
each,  were  settled  in  place  of  the  nine  ranks,  of  two  grades 
each,  as  in  China.  These  were  distinguished,  as  in  China, 
by  their  head-dress,  and  by  the  color  of  the  dress.  They 
were  called  by  the  allegorical  names  of  Virtue,  Humanity, 
Manners,  Faith,  Justice,  "Wit.  The  first  Empress  was  fol- 
lowed in  no  long  time  by  a  second,  Kwo  kogoo,  and  during 
her  reign  she  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  as  a  minister  and 
counselor  Nakatomi-kamatar  iko.  He  was  not  a  Buddhist, 
but  had  no  doubt  felt  the  influence  which  the  spread  of  this 
doctrine  had  exercised  over  Japan,  and  is  reputed  to  this  day 
one  of  Japan's  greatest  men,  and  looked  up  to  as  the  founder 
of  her  law.  During  a  long  life  he  seems  to  have  steered 
safely  through  the  difficulties  of  politics — acting  as  counselor 
to  his  mistress,  Kwo  kogoo,  her  brother  who  succeeded  her, 
Kwotoku,  and  again  when  his  former  mistress  reascended 
the  throne  as  Zai  mei,  and  subsequently  her  son  Ten  si — 
gaining  over  those  who  might  have  been  his  opponents  by 
suavity  and  gentleness  of  demeanor.  The  last-named  Em- 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  83 

peror  deplored  his  loss,  and  gave  him  the  hereditary  name 
of  Fusi  wara,  a  family  of  which  he  was  the  founder.  He 
was  canonized  after  death,  and  worshiped  as  Kassunga  dai 
mio  jin,  his  temple  being  near  Narra.  During  his  life,  and 
the  reign  of  Kwotoku,  the  eight  boards  were  completed  after 
the  model  of  the  Lok  po,  or  six  boards  of  China. 

Another  change,  which  commenced  after  the  introduction 
of  Buddhism,  was  the  abdication  of  the  Emperors  after  very 
short  reigns.  This  led  again  to  the  successive  appointments 
of  mere  children  as  Emperors.  The  ages  at  which  several  of 
the  Emperors,  over  a  lengthened  period,  ascended  the  throne, 
tended  to  reduce  the  position  of  Emperor  to  a  name,  and  to 
throw  the  entire  power  into  the  hands  of  the  ministers.  The 
system  began  shortly  after  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  at 
court,  and  the  minds  of  the  boys  and  women  who  succes- 
sively were  nominal  sovereigns  of  Japan  were  directed  to  the 
study  of  books  of  the  religion,  to  the  erection  of  magnificent 
temples,  and  to  the  manufacture  of  enormous  idols  and  bells. 
Such  as  the  enormous  copper  figures  of  Buddha  at  Narra, 
Kamakura,  and  Miako.  The  latter  has  been  melted  down 
and  a  wooden  figure  substituted.  Such  were  the  Empress 
Sei  wa,  who  began  her  reign  at  the  age  of  nine ;  Yozei,  who 
commenced  his  at  the  age  of  eight;  Daigo,  at  thirteen; 
Reizan,  a  weakly  lad  of  eighteen;  Yenwou,  at  eleven;  Go 
itsi,  at  nine;  Konye,  at  three;  and  Rokusio,  at  two.  But 
at  intervals  when  a  man  ascended  the  throne,  as  the  Em- 
peror Ten  si,  it  is  a  relief  to  see  that  some  energy  remained 
in  the  members  of  the  royal  family ;  and  at  times  the  national 
vigor  was  shown,  and  the  military  spirit,  which  the  people 
are  always  proud  of  asserting,  was  fanned,  by  wars  with 
Dattang  (or  Tartary)  and  Corea  in  658  and  661.  About  the 
same  time  Yezo  was  once  more  overrun  by  Japanese  arms 
and  brought  into  subjection,  military  stations  and  officers 
being  appointed  in  the  island  and  in  the  hitherto  barbar- 
ous provinces  of  Mootz  and  Dewa,  in  the  north  of  Nippon. 
Revolts  in  the  island  of  Kiusiu  about  740  demanded  fresh 
action  from  the  center,  and  tend  to  show  what  a  loose 


84  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

hold  this  central  power  had  at  that  time  over  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  country.  Not  till  the  year  794  was  this  central 
power  finally  fixed  at  Miako.  About  this  year  the  Emperor 
Kwan  mu  built  a  large  palace  there,  finding  that  the  magni- 
tude of  the  business  transacted  by  the  eight  boards  of  the 
empire  demanded  some  settled  place  at  which  the  court  and 
the  heads  of  departments  might  be  permanently  located.  To 
the  introduction  of  Buddhism  and  Chinese  literature  we  may 
ascribe  the  completion,  by  Fusiwara  (Tankai  ko),  who  died 
in  720,  of  the  "Ritz  Rio,"  a  code  of  laws  which  are  in  force 
and  use  at  the  present  day.  The  introduction  of  an  alphabet 
or  syllabary  (the  Hira  Kana  and  Kata  Kana)  to  facilitate  the 
reading  and  understanding  of  Chinese  was  the  work  of  the 
famous  priest  Ko  bo,  born  in  the  province  of  SanuM  774, 
and  who  died  in  835.  He  was  canonized  as  Kobo  dad  si,  and 
is  venerated  as  one  of  the  holiest  saints  of  the  Japanese  cal- 
endar, and  consequently  was  very  much  abused  by  the  Jesu- 
its. He  spent  some  part  of  his  life  in  China  studying  under 
the  Buddhists  of  the  time,  and  brought  with  him,  as  many 
others  did,  large  numbers  of  Buddhist  books.  The  endur- 
ing property  of  Japanese  paper  and  the  absence  of  white  ants 
have  preserved  these,  and  doubtless  in  some  of  the  libraries 
of  the  country  and  Corea  there  may  be  found  works  of  great 
interest  to  the  student  of  early  Buddhist  history  in  China  and 
India.  The  Issyekio  or  catalogue  of  all  Buddhist  canonical 
books  has  been  lately  republished. 

The  custom  grew  gradually  into  use  of  the  Emperor,  after 
his  abdication,  adopting  the  garb  of  a  priest,  shaving  his 
head,  and  retiring  to  a  religious  life.  This  seems  to  have 
been  in  many  cases  merely  nominal,  as  some  retained  not 
only  an  interest,  but  took  an  active  part,  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world ;  while  to  others  the  retirement  was  a  relief  and  an 
opening  to  license.  The  power,  numbers,  and  wealth  of  the 
Buddhist  monasteries  had  vastly  increased.  They  threat- 
ened to  monopolize  the  land  of  the  empire ;  and  the  head  of 
a  monastery  was  equal  or  superior  to  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful princes.  Not  only  were  the  priests  themselves  living  off 


HISTORY   OF    THE   EMPIRE.  85 

these  lands,  but  each  of  these  establishments  had  a  number 
of  retainers  and  soldiers  sufficient  to  change  the  tide  of  suc- 
cess in  any  engagement. 

For  three  or  four  centuries  the  history  of  the  empire  may 
be  written  in  the  successive  rise  to  power  of  individuals  of 
the  great  families  of  the  peerage — Fusiwara,  Sungawara, 
Minnamoto,  Tatchibanna,  and  others.  Names  which  are 
regarded  as  illustrious  in  history,  and  held  in  veneration  to 
the  present  day,  occasionally  shine  out,  such  as  Kan  sio  jo, 
better  known  by  his  posthumous  title,  Ten  mang,  the  son 
of  Sungawar  zay  zen  kio.  He  has  the  character  of  having 
been  a  very  able  man,  and  was  Kwan  bakku  and  Nai  dai  jin. 
Fusiwara  no  toki  hira,  ancestor  of  Koozio  dono  of  the  present 
day,  became  very  jealous  of  him,  and  Ten  mang  being  of  a 
quiet  disposition,  Toka  hira  obtained  an  order  for  his  banish- 
ment to  Dazai  fu,  in  the  island  of  Kiusiu.  Here  he  retired 
to  the  hill  Ten  pai  zan,  in  Tsikuzen,  and  endeavored  to  get  a 
letter  conveyed  to  the  Emperor,  but  failed  in  doing  so,  and 
was  found  starved  to  death  on  the  25th  day  of  the  second 
month.  A  fable  is  told  of  letters  having  passed  between  him 
and  Haku  raku  teng,  a  Chinese  poet,  both  letters  being  so 
similar  that  only  one  word  out  of  fourteen  differed.  The 
repetition  of  the  story  in  connection  with  the  greatest  literary 
character  of  the  country  may  show  what  admiration  Chinese 
literature  was  held  in  by  the  Japanese,  and  how  it  was  con- 
sidered the  standard  of  excellence.  Ten  mang  occupies  in 
Japanese  schools  a  somewhat  similar  position  to  that  held 
by  Confucius  in  the  Chinese.  He  is  worshiped  on  the  25th 
of  each  month,  a  day  which  is  marked  as  a  holiday.  On  the 
anniversary  a  matsuri  or  festival  is  held — "Natane  no  goku." 
His  posthumous  title  is  Ten  mang  dai  ji  sei  ten  jin.  His 
descendants  ar^  known  as  Ten  jin  sang.  Of  temples  to  his 
memory  there  is  in  Miako  a  fine  one  at  Kitano,  called  also 
Say  bio,  and  in  Yedo  at  Kame  ido,  and  at  Yooshima  and 
Shibba.  In  that  at  Miako  the  gilding  and  lacker  are  re- 
newed every  fifty  years.  There  is  in  it  a  large  library,  with 
many  old  pieces  of  armor  and  spoils  taken  during  the  wars 


86  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

with  Corea.  These  are  exhibited  annually  on  the  mooshi 
boshi  day,  "insect-brushing-away  day,"  when  the  temple  is 
cleaned. 

Among  others  who  made  a  name  to  themselves  by  their 
bravery  and  other  qualifications  was  Yoshi  iye  (son  of  Yori 
yoshi,  Prince  of  Mootz),  one  of  the  Minnamoto  family,  born 
1057,  and  known  in  history  by  the  appellation  given  him 
by  his  enemies  of  Hatchi  mang  taro,  or  eldest  son  of  the 
god  of  war.  His  third  son  was  Yoshi  kooni,  who  settled  at 
Ashikanga,  in  the  province  of  Simotsuki,  and  is  the  common 
ancestor  of  the  celebrated  families  of  Ashikanga  and  Nitta. 

In  1008  the  Empress  was  one  of  the  great  clan  of  Minna- 
moto, which  was  rising  to  power.  The  distant  parts  of  the 
empire  were  being  consolidated  by  operations  against  rebels, 
and  the  repeated  transmission  of  large  bodies  of  troops  to  the 
different  parts  of  the  islands  to  put  them  down.  This  war 
began  to  create  an  excitement  or  rivalry  among  some  of  the 
leaders,  who,  when  the  rebellions  were  put  down,  had  the 
wish  for  more  enemies  to  conquer,  and  could  only  turn  round 
in  jealousy  upon  their  equals.  Yoshi  iye  was  sent  to  the 
province  of  Mootz  as  Commander-in-chief,  and,  after  many 
years'  fighting,  subdued  the  rebels,  and  brought  this  prov- 
ince, as  well  as  all  the  Kwanto  (the  provinces  "east  of  the 
barrier  of  Hakonay"),  into  submission.  His  son  Tame  yoshi 
desired  the  same  post.  To  Taira  tada  mori,  descended  from 
the  Emperor  Kwan  mu,  was  given  the  island  of  Tsussima, 
and  in  1153  his  son  Kio  mori  succeeded  him  as  President 
of  the  Criminal  Tribunal.  This  name  calls  up,  to  any  one 
acquainted  with  Japanese  history,  the  recollection  of  the 
most  stirring  events,  and  the  greatest  struggle  which  has 
ever  convulsed  the  empire  of  Japan.  This  struggle  was 
between  the  Gen  or  Minnamoto  and  the  He  or  Taira  fami- 
lies. He  and  Taira  are  the  same  word  in  Japanese  writing, 
meaning  "peace,"  the  former  being  the  pronunciation  of  the 
Chinese  word  ping.  The  Minnamoto  family,  or  Gen  ji,  stood 
on  the  broadest  basis,  and  had  risen  to  the  greatest  fame, 
and  had  recently  occupied  the  highest  positions  in  the  state. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  87 

The  Empress  had  been  of  the  family,  and  the  memoirs  of  the 
family  had  been  written  for  her  edification,  or  to  gratify  her 
own  or  her  family's  pride.  On  the  other  side,  members  of 
the  Taira  family,  or  He  ji,  had  occasionally  risen  up  to  high 
rank  in  the  state ;  and  recently  the  family  had  been  honored 
for  its  prowess  and  its  activity  in  the  imperial  service. 

Yoshi  tomo  and  Kio  mori  were  rising  step  by  step  to 
higher  rank  and  power,  when  the  abdication  of  Toba  no, 
1123,  and  the  question  as  to  his  successor,  threw  everything 
into  confusion.  His  immediate  successor  was  his  son  Sho 
toku,  in  1124,  who  after  reigning  seventeen  years  retired 
(mainly  on  account  of  the  intrigues  of  his  stepmother)  at 
the  age  of  thirty-nine.  He  left  a  son,  Sighe  shto,  but  was 
succeeded  by  his  half-brother,  Kon  ye  no  in,  who,,  after 
reigning  fourteen  years,  died  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  The 
latter  had  been  elevated  to  the  throne  by  the  intrigues  of  Bi 
fouk  mon,  his  mother,  and  she  suspected  the  late  Emperor 
of  having  caused  his  death  in  order  that  his  own  son  Sighe 
shto  might  ascend  the  throne.  But  in  order  to  defeat  these 
projects,  she  induced  her  son  on  his  deathbed  to  adopt  his 
half-brother  Go  ziro  kawa.  A  younger  son  was  thus  in 
actual  possession,  while  his  nephew  and  the  eldest  son  of  the 
elder  brother  were  displaced.  The  lineal  heir  endeavored  to 
regain  his  rights.  He  raised  an  army,  and  on  his  side  were 
ranged  as  leaders  many  of  the  higher  members  of  the  Min- 
namoto  family.  On  the  other  side  was  Kio  mori,  of  the 
Taira  family,  and,  of  the  Minnamoto  family,  Yoshi  tomo 
and  Tada  mitsi.  A  battle  was  fought  only  eleven  days  after 
the  death  of  the  old  Emperor  Toba  no  in.  Notwithstanding 
the  bravery  and  prowess  of  the  leaders  of  their  opponents, 
the  He  ji,  the  party  in  power,  gained  the  day.  Among  the 
leaders  of  the  Gen  ji  was  Tame  tomo,  famous  for  his  power 
in  drawing  a  bow  (owing,  perhaps,  to  the  one  arm  being 
shorter  than  the  other),  and,  in  his  subsequent  life,  as  a  rover 
over  the  Southern  seas.  He  was  the  first  historical  occupier 
of  the  islands  to  the  south  of  Japan,  Hatchi  jo  and  its  chain, 
linked  on  to  the  southeastern  promontory,  and  the  Liookioo 


88  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

Islands,  with  the  chain  joined  by  links  to  the  southwestern 
promontory  of  the  mainland.  He  was  the  brother  of  Yoshi 
tomo,  who  fought  on  the  opposite  side.  As  a  reward  for 
their  success  on  behalf  of  the  Emperor  de  facto,  Go  ziro 
kawa,  Minnamoto  Yoshi  tomo  and  Taira  Kio  mori  were  both 
raised  to  higher  rank  and  power,  and  to  each  was  given  a 
province  as  a  more  substantial  acknowledgment  of  their 
assistance.  From  this  time  mutual  jealousy  seems  to  have 
grown  up  between  these  two.  But  the  ability  of  the  reign- 
ing Emperor,  who  thenceforward  took  the  reins  into  his  own 
hands,  seems  to  have  kept  down  their  smoldering  jealousy. 
As  to  the  prince  who  was  endeavoring  to  resume  his  lawful 
rights,  he  and  his  father,  the  Emperor  Sho  toku,  were  ban- 
ished Jo  the  province  of  Sanuki,  where  the  latter  died  in  the 
year  1164.  He  died  of  starvation,  having  written  a  letter  to 
the  Emperor  with  his  blood,  upon  a  piece  of  his  shirt;  but 
Kio  mori  would  not  let  the  Emperor  see  it. 

The  banished  Emperor  Sho  toku  was  devoted  to  his  wor- 
ship, and  since  his  death  he  has  to  many  worshipers  taken 
the  place  of  Compera.  This  is  a  name  much  worshiped 
in  Japan  as  a  god.  As  a  hideous  idol  with  a  long  nose  he 
has  temples  erected  to  his  worship  in  every  village.  Imme- 
diately after  the  death  of  Sho  toku,  in  1163,  a  violent  storm 
or  earthquake  took  place,  and  as  he  was  known  to  have  a 
great  reverence  for  Compera,  this  convulsion  of  nature  was 
attributed  to  the  anger  of  this  supposed  being,  and  a  mag- 
nificent temple  was  raised  by  his  son  and  grandson  on  Dzo 
dzu  Hill  (Elephant's  Head  Hill),  at  Matzuyama,  near  Mar- 
ungame,  in  the  province  of  Sanuki.  Sho  toku  (known  by 
the  adopted  name  of  Seengeen)  is  by  many  looked  upon  as 
Compera  gongen.  Compera,  from  the  Chinese  characters 
composing  the  name,  seems  to  be  Kapila,  of  Indian  my- 
thology. Kapila  was  known  as  the  founder  of  the  Sankya 
school  of  philosophy  in  India,  which,  in  reference  to  the 
sacred  Vedas,  held  the  authority  of  revelation  as  paramount 
to  reason  and  experience,  to  which  Buddha,  either  for  his 
philosophical  or  his  moral  or  religious  doctrines,  would  not 


HISTORY   OF    THE   EMPIRE.  89 

submit.  Some  have  thought  Kapila  and  Buddha  to  be  the 
same  person.  His  anniversary  day  is  the  tenth  day  of  the 
tenth  month.  He  is  revered  for  his  great  strength,  which 
he  exerted  in  favor  of  Sakya  mooni.  In  Buddhist  history, 
Daibadatta  wished  to  destroy  Say  son — i.e.,  Sakya  mooni. 
He  took  up  a  large  stone,  twenty-four  yards  long  and  four 
arms'-length  broad,  and  threw  it  down  on  him.  Compera 
saw  the  action,  and  instantly  stretched  out  his  hand  and 
caught  the  stone  as  it  fell.  Another  name  of  Compera  is 
He-ira.  He  is  called  also  Kapira,  and  "Goo  pira,"  and 
"Goo  he  ira."  The  name  of  Ee  ngio  wo — power  equal  to 
emperor — is  also  given  to  him  for  his  strength.  Fudowo  mio 
is  according  to  some  the  same  as  Compera.  Many  persons 
worship  him  because  his  name  begins  with  "gold." 

Kio  mori  turned  out  to  be  the  ablest  and  most  unscrupu- 
lous minister  of  the  time,  but  the  Emperor,  who  had  abdi- 
cated, still  took  the  principal  management  of  affairs  during 
the  reigns  of  his  son  and  two  grandsons.  Kio  mori  at  the 
age  of  fifty-one  shaved  his  head,  and  nominally  retired  into 
priest's  orders  in  1169. 

Yoshi  tomo  in  1159  had  conspired  to  destroy  Kio  mori. 
He  failed,  and  was  killed  while  in  the  bath  by  his  own  ser- 
vant, Osada.  His  eldest  son  went  to  Miako  with  the  view 
of  killing  Kio  mori,  but  was  discovered  and  put  to  death. 
His  second  son  died.  His  third  son,  Yoritomo,  born  1147, 
fled  with  his  mother  (Tokiwa  go  zen,  a  woman  of  low  origin) 
and  two  brothers.  Overtaken  by  snow  and  hunger,  they 
were  arrested  and  brought  back,  when  Kio  mori  forced  her 
to  become  his  concubine.  His  friends  demanded  that  the 
children  should  be  put  to  death,  but,  at  the  intercession  of 
his  own  aunt,  he  saved  their  lives,  but  banished  Yoritomo 
to  Hiruga  ko  jima,  or  one  of  the  islands  to  the  south  of  Idzu. 
The  other  two  boys,  Yoshitzune  and  Nori  yori,  were  kept  in 
Miako  and  educated  for  priests.  The  former  of  them  was  aft- 
erward a  well-known  hero.  His  nickname  when  a  boy  was 
Ushi  waka,  or  young  ox  or  calf.  Yoritomo,  while  a  boy, 
was  known  as  Sanaa  no  kami,  or  captain  of  the  left  cavalry. 


90  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

At  this  time,  1170,  Tame  tomo  above  mentioned,  who  had 
been  roving  about  the  South  Sea  for  years  past,  landed  on 
the  mountainous  province  and  peninsula  of  Idzu,  and  at- 
tempted to  raise  a  rebellion;  but  his  men  were  overcome, 
and  he  himself  committed  suicide.  A  temple  was  raised  to 
his  memory,  and  he  is  worshiped  both  in  Hatchi  jo  and  in 
the  Liookioo  Islands. 

In  1171  the  Emperor  Taka  kura  no  in,  at  the  age  of  eleven 
years,  married  the  daughter  of  Kio  mori,  aged  fifteen  years. 
This  rendered  Kio  mori  still  more  powerful,  and  at  the  same 
time  more  imperious  in  his  conduct.  He  emerged  from  his 
seclusion,  and  placed  his  two  sons  in  the  office  of  Tai  sho  or 
first  generals,  over  the  heads  of  others  Who  had  hoped  for 
the  places.  This  raised  a  community  of  feeling  against  him, 
and  again  a  conspiracy  was  made  to  attack  and  kill  him  and 
the  whole  of  his  family,  but  it  failed  through  the  treachery  of 
some  of  the  conspirators.  The  Empress,  Kio  mori's  daugh- 
ter, 1178,  had  a  son,  and  in  the  following  year  his  own  son, 
Sighe  mori,  died.  This  son  had  proved  some  obstacle  to  the 
working  out  of  his  father's  schemes  of  ambition,  and  when 
he  was  removed  by  death  Kio  mori  imperiously  ruled  accord- 
ing to  his  own  pleasure.  His  grandson,  Antoku,  in  1181, 
became  Emperor.  Kio  mori  became  very  tyrannical  before 
his  death,  and  he  not  only  kept  the  old  Emperor  confined, 
but  tried  to  change  the  residence  of  the  court  from  Miako  to 
Fu  ku  wara,  and  determined  to  extirpate  the  family  of  Min- 
namoto.  Once  more  a  conspiracy  was  set  on  foot  to  destroy 
the  family  of  He,  by  one  of  the  royal  princes,  who  had  suf- 
fered from  the  arrogant  insolence  of  Kio  mori.  Letters  were 
obtained  from  the  old  Emperor  and  secretly  dispatched  to 
Yoritomo,  then  in  banishment  on  the  coast  of  Idzu,  and 
who  was  looked  upon  as  the  head  of  the  Minnamoto  family, 
and  the  chief  enemy  of  Kio  mori  and  the  He  kay.  His 
brother  Yoshitzune  had  escaped  from  Miako,  in  the  retinue 
of  some  gold  merchants,  to  the  province  of  Dewa,  and  was 
residing  in  that  province  with  Hide  hira,  Mootz  no  kami. 
Yoritomo  had  married  the  daughter  of  Hojio  Toki  massa,  in 


HISTORY   OF    THE    EMPIRE.  91 

whose  charge  he  was  during  his  banishment.  Through  her 
father  she  was  descended  from  Kwan  mu,  Emperor,  and  was 
afterward  known  as  Ama  Shiogoon,  or  female  Shiogoon,  her 
name  being  Taira  no  Massa  go.  When  the  letters  were  given 
to  him  from  the  Emperor  and  his  son,  calling  upon  him  to 
raise  troops  to  rid  the  country  of  Kio  mori,  and  release  them 
from  the  durance  in  which  they  were  kept,  he  immediately 
wrote  to  his  brother  Yoshitzune,  calling  upon  him  to  assist 
him.  Under  such  surveillance  were  these  royal  parties  kept 
that  it  was  only  under  the  guise  of  paying  a  visit  to  the  great 
temple  of  Miajima,  on  the  beautiful  island  Itsuku  jima,  in 
the  inland  sea,  in  the  province  of  Aki,  then  belonging  to 
Kio  mori,  that  the  conspirators  were  able  to  get  the  letters 
dispatched.  Yoritomo,  with  Hojio,  collected  what  men  he 
could,  and  raised  the  flag  at  Ishi  bashi  yama.  "When  he  first 
started  only  seven  men  joined  him,  and  he  fought  his  first 
battle  with  only  three  hundred  under  him,  against  ten  times 
their  number.  He  was  defeated,  and  with  his  seven  friends 
ran  away,  and  the  story  goes  that  they  all  hid  in  the  hollow 
trunk  of  a  large  tree  near  Ishi  bashi  hatto.  "While  remain- 
ing concealed  there,  the  soldiers,  having  examined  every 
other  place,  came  to  the  conclusion  they  must  be  there.  A 
Kashi  warra  man  (secretly  a  partisan  of  the  Gen  party)  vol- 
unteered to  go  and  look,  and,  though  suspected,  he  was 
allowed  to  do  so.  He  went  up,  looked  in,  and  saw  the  party 
hiding,  and  told  them  to  lie  still,  and  taking  his  spear  showed 
his  commander  that  he  could  turn  it  all  round  the  hollow. 
When  he  did  so,  two  bats  or  birds  flew  out,  and  he  told  his 
commander  that  the  mouth  of  the  hollow  was  covered  over 
with  spiders'  webs.  The  party  of  soldiers  went  away. 
Yoritomo  and  his  friends  left  immediately,  and  went  to  a 
temple,  where  they  were  secreted  in  the  wardrobe  for  storing 
the  dresses  of  the  priests.  Meantime  the  soldiers  returned, 
looked  into  the  tree,  and  found  that  they  had  been  there. 
They  then  went  to  the  temple,  demanded  of  the  priest  where 
they  were  secreted,  and,  on  his  refusing  to  tell,  they  killed 
him. 


92  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

Meanwhile  Yoshitzune  collected  what  forces  he  could, 
and  with  them  went  down  to  Kamakura,  at  the  head  of  the 
Odawara  division  of  the  Bay  of  Yedo. 

Yoritomo  was  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  remote  peninsula 
of  Awa,  southeast  of  Yedo,  whence  he  dispatched  missives 
calling  on  all  the  Gen  family  to  collect,  sending  Hojio,  his 
father-in-law,  to  the  province  of  Kahi,  and  joining  Hiro 
tsune  with  a  large  body  of  men  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Sumida  gawa,  that  division  of  the  Tonay  gawa  which  runs 
past  the  eastern  side  of  Yedo.  In  the  province  of  Musasi  he 
was  joined  by  Hatake  yama;  while  his  relation,  Yoshi  naka 
of  Kisso,  raised  an  army  in  Sinano.  Yoritomo  fixed  upon 
Kamakura,  in  the  province  of  Segami,  at  a  very  early  date, 
for  his  residence.  This  beautiful  classic  spot  is  within  two 
hours'  ride  of  Yokohama,  and  shows  now  little  trace  of  hav- 
ing once  been  the  residence  of  a  court.  Trivial  circumstances 
probably  led  him  to  this  conclusion,  as  it  does  not  seem  to  be 
a  place  suited  in  any  way  for  a  large  city  or  for  the  capital 
of  a  country.  He  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  and  of  strong 
will,  but  had  received  no  education ;  and  having  been  brought 
up  in  the  province  of  Idzu,  had  acquired  the  dialect  of  the 
district.  The  mountain-pass  of  Hakkone  is  considered  the 
key  to  the  eastern  provinces,  and  if  it  were  sufficiently 
guarded,  his  position  would  be  one  of  comparative  safety, 
at  a  distance  of  a  day's  march  from  the  pass.  His  rela- 
tion, Yori  Yoshi,  had  formerly  resided  there,  and  he  had 
probably  looked  upon  it,  when  a  boy,  as  the  family  property. 
From  his  residence  here  he  was  called,  by  the  people  of 
Kwanto,  Kam  kura  dono,  a  name  by  which  he  is  spoken 
of  to  this  day.  Kwanto  literally  means  east  of  the  barrier — 
i.e.,  of  Hakkone — and  is  synonymous  with  Ban  do,  east  of 
the  hill.  It  is  a  name  by  which  are  understood  all  the  eight 
provinces  to  the  east  of  the  range  of  hills  running  down  the 
promontory  of  Idzu;  viz.,  Segami,  Musasi,  Simotsuki,  Ko- 
wotsuki,  Simosa,  Kadsusa,  Awa,  and  Fitatsi.  It  is  called 
also  Kwang  hasshiu. 

Forces  were  sent  from  Miako  by  Kio  mori  to    oppose 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  93 

Yoritomo,  but  at  this  time  his  relative  Hojio  met  him  with 
a  large  re-enforcement,  and  the  He  party  retired  without 
fighting.  Yoritomo  overran  the  province  of  Fitatsi  and  put 
to  death  Satake  Hide  Yoshi.  The  whole  empire  was  now 
desolated  by  war.  The  tide  began,  before  Kio  mori  died,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-four,  in  1181,  to  turn  in  favor  of  the  Gen 
party.  But  so  long  as  Kio  mori  lived  the  cause  of  his  oppo- 
nents did  not  seem  to  hold  out  much  prospect  of  success,  and 
the  relatives  of  Yoritomo  are  still  found  fighting  against  him, 
and  on  the  side  of  the  ruling  party.  Among  these  were  his 
own  uncle  Yoshi  hiro,  and  Yoshi  naka,  another  relative. 
The  latter  was  afterward  reconciled  to  Yoritomo,  and  ren- 
dered him  great  assistance,  being  everywhere  victorious  in 
the  northern  provinces  of  Etsjiu  and  Kanga.  Thence  he 
rapidly  pushed  on  to  the  capital,  and  seized  the  extensive 
monastery  of  Hiyaysan.  The  Emperor  An  toku  fled  west- 
ward with  his  wife,  Kio  mori's  daughter.  His  grandfather, 
the  old  Emperor  Go  Zirakawa,  received  his  deliverers  in 
Miako,  and  still  retaining  his  interest  in  the  regulation  of 
affairs,  saw  another  grandson,  brother  of  Antoku,  proclaimed 
as  Emperor.  The  possessions  of  the  He  party  were  confis- 
cated and  divided  among  the  members  of  the  Gen  family. 
Antoku  remained  about  Da  zai  foo,  the  station  from  which 
military  superintendence  of  the  island  of  Kiusiu  was  regu- 
lated, but  from  this  island  the  He  party  was  driven  out  and 
crossed  over  to  Sikok.  Still  they  were  able  in  different  parts 
of  the  country  to  make  a  stand,  and  even  to  defeat  their 
adversaries  in  more  than  one  battle.  Several  of  the  party 
had  been  left  in  Miako  in  posts  of  consequence,  the  son  of 
Kio  mori  being  regent,  and  they  did  what  they  could  to  sup- 
port their  cause  in  the  capital.  Yoshi  naka,  who  had  seized 
Miako  on  the  part  of  the  Genji,  became  in  his  turn  overbear- 
ing, and  roused  the  impatience  of  the  old  Emperor,  who 
stirred  up  the  priests  of  the  monasteries  of  Hiyaysan  and 
Midera  to  oppose  him.  But  Yoshi  naka  suddenly  came  upon 
them,  seized  and  imprisoned  the  Emperor,  and  beheaded  the 
abbots  of  the  religious  houses.  He  caused  himself  to  be 


94  HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

created  Sei  dai  Shiogoon,  and  finally  set  himself  up  in  oppo- 
sition to  Yoritomo.  Yoshitzune  and  Nori  Yori,  brothers  of 
Yoritomo,  were  immediately  dispatched  from  the  Kwanto 
to  Miako  to  attack  him,  and  set  free  the  Emperor  and  his 
grandfather,  and  he  was  defeated  by  them  and  killed. 
Meantime,  1184,  the  He  ji  had  been  gathering  their  strength 
in  the  western  provinces,  and  had  assembled  an  army  of 
100,000  men  and  fortified  themselves.  Nori  Yori  and  Yoshi- 
tzune attacked  them,  and  after  a  very  severe  engagement 
took  the  fort  by  assault  and  completely  routed  the  army, 
killing  many  of  the  leaders  of  the  party.  After  this  Yori- 
tomo ordered  his  son-in-law,  son  of  Yoshi  naka,  to  be  put  to 
death,  and  Yoshitzune  was  appointed  governor  of  Miako. 
He  attacked  the  enemy  in  the  island  of  Sikok,  and  also  in 
the  western  provinces  of  Nagato,  and  at  the  fort  of  Aka 
Magaseki  routed  them ;  the  mother  of  the  Emperor  escaping 
with  the  two  insignia  of  rule — the  sacred  sword  and  the  seal 
or  ball.  But  in  crossing  over  from  Simonoseki  the  Emperor 
threw  himself  into  the  sea  and  was  drowned.  Of  the  two 
sacred  emblems,  the  sword  was  said  to  have  been  lost;  the 
seal  was  saved.  At  this  narrowest  part  of  the  passage  be- 
tween Kiusiu  and  Nippon  runs  a  ledge  of  rocks,  and  upon 
these  stands  a  small  column,  or  tombstone,  to  the  memory 
of  the  Emperor.  On  the  Kiusiu  side  is  the  village  of  Dairi, 
called  so  from  the  imperial  family  having  rested  there. 
Moone  mori,  one  of  the  party,  is  said  to  have  fled  to  the 
island  of  Tsussima,  where  his  descendants  to  this  day  rule 
as  (the  Chinese  sound  of  the  name)  Sso.  When  the  men  of 
the  party  were  all  destroyed,  the  females  crowded  the  port 
of  Simonoseki,  and  were  obliged  to  live  by  prostitution ;  and 
hence  the  females  of  this  class  in  Simonoseki  are  accorded  to 
this  day  the  first  rank  of  the  class,  and  privileges— in  the 
way  of  dress,  such  as  wearing  stockings,  and  wearing  the 
knot  of  the  obi  or  belt  behind,  like  other  women,  and  not 
before,  as  prostitutes — which  are  denied  to  others.  In  the 
center  of  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  between  Fiuga  and  Higo,  is 
a  high  tableland,  partly  marsh,  extending  from  twenty  to 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  95 

thirty  miles  in  length.  According  to  native  accounts,  this 
place  was  a  hundred  years  ago  quite  a  terra  incognita. 
About  that  time  it  was  discovered  that  there  were  people 
living  in  three  villages  within  the  marsh.  The  principal 
village  was  called  Mayra.  Further  investigation  being 
made,  it  was  discovered  that  these  were  remnants  of  the  He 
ji,  who  had  fled  there  at  this  period,  and  had  isolated  them- 
selves through  fear.  They  had  conveyed  their  fears  to  their 
children,  who,  when  visited,  had  a  dread  of  being  punished 
for  the  crimes  of  their  forefathers.  The  three  villages  are 
now  under  charge  of  a  Hattamoto. 

The  power  of  the  He  family  was  thus  completely  broken, 
and  that  of  the  Gen  or  Minnamoto  firmly  established,  mainly 
through  the  prowess  and  generalship  of  Yoshitzune.  Yori- 
tomo  began  to  be  jealous  of  his  brother  on  account  of  the 
credit  and  reputation  he  had  gained  by  his  success.  He 
picked  a  quarrel  with  him  on  the  ground  of  his  having  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  the  enemy  of  the  house,  Kio  mori,  and 
sent  forces  against  him,  demanding  of  the  Emperor  that  his 
father-in-law,  Hojio,  should  be  appointed  generalissimo,  by 
this  means  filling  the  places  of  command  with  his  own  creat- 
ures. Yoshitzune  left  the  capital  and  retired  to  Oshiu  to  his 
old  friend  Hide  Hira,  governor  of  the  province.  Yoritomo 
was  enraged  at  an  asylum  being  given  to  his  brother  in  the 
north,  and  sent  orders  to  have  him  put  to  death.  Yasu  hira, 
the  son  of  his  old  friend,  attacked  him,  and  Yoshitzune,  be- 
ing unprepared  and  seeing  no  way  of  escape,  destroyed  him- 
self, after  first  killing  his  wife  and  children.  Yoritomo, 
angry  with  the  man  for  doing  what  he  himself  had  ordered, 
marched  against  Yasu  hira  with  a  large  army,  and  finally 
destroyed  him.  Yoritomo  built  a  palace  for  himself  in  Miako, 
but  appears  generally  to  have  lived  at  Kamakura.  At  this 
latter  place  are  to  be  seen  to  this  day  the  remains  of  his  work 
in  the  roads  cut  through  rocks  which  confined  the  space  of 
ground  set  apart  for  his  residence. 

In  1190  he  went  to  Miako,  where  he  had  built  a  palace, 
and  in  great  state  visited  the  Emperor;  but  after  a  month's 


96  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

residence  in  the  capital  he  returned  to  Kamakura.  In  1192 
the  old  Emperor  Go  zira  kawa  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 
He  had  lived,  after  his  abdication,  during  parts  of  the  reigns 
of  five  emperors,  his  sons  and  grandsons.  He  had  during 
forty  years  taken  a  very  active  part  in  the  working  of  the 
government,  and  had  passed  through  the  most  exciting  time 
in  the  history  of  his  country,  and  his  last  years  were  spent 
in  tranquillity. 

Yoritomo  was  appointed  Sei  dai  Shiogoon.  Suspecting 
his  brother  Nori  Yori  of  plotting  against  him,  he  banished 
him  to  Idzu,  where  he  was  soon  after  put  to  death.  He 
again  visited  the  capital  for  four  months  in  1195,  but  re- 
turned to  Kamakura,  from  which  place  he  virtually  ruled 
the  empire.  He  fell  from  his  horse  toward  the  end  of  1198, 
and  died  shortly  after,  in  1199,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three.  He 
is  generally  regarded  as  the  greatest  hero  in  Japanese  his- 
tory. But  his  treatment  of  his  brother  has  been  a  great  blot 
upon  his  character,  and  lowered  him  very  much  in  the  regard 
of  his  countrymen.  Yoshitzune  is  looked  upon  as  the  mirror 
of  chivalry,  and  his  conduct  is  held  up  to  the  youth  of  the 
country  for  imitation,  rather  than  the  calculating,  bloody, 
though  brilliant  career  of  Yoritomo. 

Kamakura  seems  to  have  occupied  under  Yoritomo  very 
nearly  the  same  situation,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  that 
Yedo  does  in  the  present  day.  The  absence  of  external  foes 
having  created  a  necessity  for  internal  division,  two  courts 
arose,  the  one  with  forms  without  power,  the  other  wielding 
all  the  power  and  dispensing  with  the  forms,  except  when  it 
suited  him  to  demand  them.  Yoritomo  seems  to  have  been 
the  first  to  establish  his  court  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  em- 
pire, a  retreat  which  he  chose  probably  on  account  of  its  re- 
tired and  defensible  situation.  Standing  upon  the  sea,  the 
place  is  inclosed  by  hills,  and  in  order  to  obtain  access  to  the 
town  a  road  was  cut  on  either  side  through  the  hills.  That 
to  the  east,  toward  Kanesawa,  is  a  fine  perpendicular  cutting 
through  sandstone.  The  houses  occupied  by  Yoritomo,  and 
after  him  by  Ashikanga,  or  the  sites  where  they  stood,  are 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  97 

pointed  out.  Here  stands  a  fine  temple  to  Hatchimang, 
erected  since  the  days  of  Yoritomo,  and  upon  the  spot  where 
his  son  was  assassinated.  It  is  known  as  Suruga  oka  Hatchi- 
mang. An  avenue  with  three  fine  stone  archways  leads 
straight  to  the  sea  from  the  door  of  the  temple.  Upon  the 
platform  on  which  the  temple  stands  is  a  small  shrine  to 
Inari,  the  god  of  rice,  worshiped  everywhere  in  Japan ;  an- 
other to  the  spirit  of  Yoritomo ;  another  fb  stones  in  which 
some  divine  power  is  supposed  to  reside.  Two  stones  below 
show  that  the  Phallic  worship  lingers  in  Japan,  female  (so 
to  speak)  as  well  as  male,  while  a  temple  on  the  shore,  near 
Ooraga,  is  entirely  devoted  to  this  infatuation.  The  tomb 
of  Yoritomo,  an  unpretending  slab,  is  in  the  neighborhood. 
A  small  hill  opposite  has  the  name  of  Kinoo  hari  yama,  tak- 
ing this  name  from  Yoritomo  having  ordered  it  to  be  cov- 
ered with  white  silk  to  show  some  of  his  lady  friends  how  it 
looked  in  winter.  The  story  may  be  doubted,  if  it  were  only 
on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  silk  at  that  time.  At  Kanesawa 
are  the  tombs  of  the  servants  of  Yoshitzune.  About  half  a 
mile  from  the  temple  of  Hatchimang,  on  the  road  to  Fusi- 
sawa,  is  the  fine  old  temple  called  Kenchoji,  built  by  order 
of  Moone  taka  Sinwo,  son  of  the  Emperor  Sanga.  Further 
on  is  a  nunnery  or  convent  for  ladies,  the  Matzunga  oka. 
Looking  toward  the  sea,  the  little  island  or  peninsula  of 
Eeno  sima  is  visible.  On  the  road  in  this  direction  is  a  tem- 
ple built  by  a  daughter  of  Mito ;  a  little  beyond  is  a  place 
famous  for  the  manufacture  of  swords ;  and  beyond  this  is  a 
village  with  a  temple  to  Kunon,  the  goddess  of  mercy  (Kwan 
yin  of  China). 

Turning  to  the  right  from  the  village  is  a  large  copper 
figure  of  Buddha  sitting  in  the  open  air,  in  a  position  and 
with  an  air  of  great  repose.  It  is  between  forty  and  fifty 
feet  high.  Around  this  colossal  figure  are  seen  in  the  grass 
large  flat  stones.  These  are  the  bases  of  the  pillars  of  a 
temple  which  once  covered  the  figure.  But  during  a  severe 
earthquake  a  rush  of  the  sea  over  a  temporary  subsidence  of 
the  land  swept  away  everything  but  the  massive  figure  and 

5 


98  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

foundation-stones  of  the  temple.  It  looks  at  present  far  out 
of  reach  of  the  renewal  of  any  such  devastation. 

The  glory  of  Kamakura  has  removed  to  Yedo,  and  what 
is  said  by  the  Jesuit  fathers  to  have  been  at  one  time  a  town 
of  200,000  houses  is  now  a  village  of  not  200  cottages. 

The  son  of  Yoritomo,  Yori  ye,  succeeded  him  in  all  his 
employments ;  but  proving  unequal  to  the  task  of  governing, 
he  retired,  and  his  son,  Sanne  tomo,  at  twelve  years  of  age, 
was  appointed  Sei  dai  Shiogoon,  Tokimasa,  father-in-law  of 
Yoritomo,  being  regent ;  and  from  this  date  the  power  of  the 
Hojio  family  began.  The  following  year  they  put  to  death 
Yori  ye.  Tokimasa  assassinated  Hatake  yama,  and  after- 
ward had  designs  upon  Sanne  tomo's  life  at  the  instigation 
of  his  wife ;  but  they  were  discovered  by  Sanne  tomo's  grand- 
mother, Yoritomo's  widow,  and  Tokimasa  was  banished. 
Sanne  tomo  was  assassinated  by  his  brother  Kokio  (who  had 
become  a  priest,  and  officiated  in  the  temple)  while  descend- 
ing the  stairs  of  the  large  temple  of  Hatchimang  goo,  at 
Kamakura,  after  worshiping  there  at  night.  He  was  the 
last  Shiogoon  of  the  family  of  Yoritomo.  The  power  fell  to 
the  hands  of  Hojio  no  Yoshi  toki,  who  ruled  with  Masa  go, 
widow  of  Yoritomo,  known  as  "Ama  shiogoon,"  or  the  Nun 
commander-in-chief.  Hojio  Yasu  toki  was  Sikken,  a  title 
which  was  afterward  changed  to  Kwan  rei,  or  minister  to 
the  Shiogoon  at  Kamakura,  and  began  to  assume  a  similar 
position  toward  the  Shiogoon  that  the  latter  held  toward  the 
Emperor.  Hojio  and  Hasago  raised  to  the  office  of  Shiogoon 
Yoritsone,  son  of  Fusiwara  no  Mitsi  ye.  Yoritsone  resigned 
the  post  of  Shiogoon  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  to  his  son, 
aged  six,  who  the  following  year  married  a  daughter  of 
Hojio.  The  father  and  son,  being  in  1251  discovered  to  be 
concerned  in  a  plot  against  the  Emperor,  were  seized ;  and 
the  office  was  now  given  to  one  of  the  royal  family  from 
Miako,  Moone  taka,  "Sin  wo."  In  his  time  Hojio  Toki  yori, 
then  Kwanrei,  built  the  large  temple  of  Kenchoji  at  Kama- 
kura. The  Hojio  family  (Fosio  of  Klaproth)  at  this  time 
absorbed  the  chief  authority  in  the  empire. 


HISTORY   OF    THE    EMPIRE.  99 

The  historical  notes  which  follow  are  taken  from  a  native 
almanac  with  the  assistance  of  a  native,  and  are  in  them- 
selves uninteresting ;  but  they  give  some  short  notice  of  the 
wars  between  the  Emperors  of  the  North  and  South,  of  the 
rise  to  power  of  different  families — such  as  Hojio,  Ashikanga, 
Nitta,  Hossokawa,  and  others  —  who  occupied  prominent 
places  in  Japanese  history  down  to  the  time  of  Nobunanga, 
when  a  military  genius  arose  to  extract  order  out  of  confu- 
sion, and  system  out  of  a  chaos  of  anarchy.  But  even  the 
confused  and  uninteresting  mass  of  names  entangled  in  facts 
may  give  an  impression  of  what  the  state  of  the  country  was 
during  a  period  when  nothing  but  turmoil  and  boiling  brought 
one  after  another  to  the  surface,  to  make  way  in  turn  for  oth- 
ers from  the  abyss  below.  That  some  information  is  con- 
tained in  these  notes,  may  be  an  excuse  for  placing  them 
here  in  such  a  meager  and  unentertaining  form.  But  the 
names  of  individuals,  of  places,  of  temples,  become  interest- 
ing as  more  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  country  and  the 
religion  of  Japan. 

In  1260  the  Nitsi  ren  sect  of  Buddhists  was  introduced 
at  Kamakura,  a  sect  which  has  become  of  more  prominence 
lately,  since  foreigners  arrived  in  Japan,  owing  to  a  saint 
of  the  sect,  Saysho  gosama,  having  been  a  great  persecutor 
of  Christians. 

Hojio  Toki  yori,  minister  of  the  Shiogoon,  one  of  the  great 
men  of  Japan,  died  in  1263,  aged  thirty-seven;  and  the  Shio- 
goon Moone  taka  was  forced  to  resign,  and  his  son,  Kore 
Yassu,  a  child,  raised  to  the  office. 

In  China,  the  Mokoo  (or  Mongol),  about  1276,  had  over- 
thrown the  Sung  dynasty.  Corea  was  compelled  to  become 
tributary,  and  embassies  from  China  were  sent  to  Japan, 
calling  upon  the  Emperor  to  send  his  tribute.  At  different 
times  several  large  naval  expeditions  were  fitted  out  by  the 
Chinese  emperor,  the  Kublai  of  Marco  Polo.  One  of  these, 
in  1281,  reached  the  coast  of  Tsussima;  but  in  consequence 
of  severe  storms,  said  to  have  been  raised  by  the  opportune 
assistance  of  the  god  at  Isse  (whence  he  is  called  Kase  mo 


100  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

mia,  or  god  of  the  wind),  the  vessels  were  knocked  to  pieces, 
and  30,000  men  taken  prisoners  and  killed.  One  of  the  em- 
bassadors  was  beheaded  at  Kamakura.  The  power  of  the 
Hojio  family  had  become  so  great  at  Kamakura  that  they 
retained  in  their  own  hands  the  appointment  of  Emperor. 

In  1282,  the  Sikken,  or  Kwanrei,  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  aged  fourteen  years ;  so  that  at  this  time  it  would 
appear  that  the  country  was  governed  by  a  deputy  or  assist- 
ant of  a  boy,  the  deputy  or  minister  of  the  commander-in- 
chief  under  the  reigning  Emperor,  with  the  advice  and  as- 
sistance of  one,  and  perhaps  two,  abdicated  Emperors. 

This  state  of  things  could  not  be  expected  to  continue, 
and  could  only  exist  in  a  country  with  no  external  relations 
and  with  no  neighbors.  The  divided  government  made  up 
to  some  extent  for  this  want,  but  it  left  so  many  opportuni  • 
ties  for  individuals  plotting  to  seize  the  power  that  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  Emperors  and  the  Shiogoons  chafed  under 
it.  This  was  met  by  a  constant  accession  to  these  high  posts 
of  children,  who,  when  they  began  to  be  troublesome,  were 
forced  to  resign,  the  Hojio  family  continuing  to  hold  the  real 
power  at  Kamakura  and  Miako,  and  also  in  Kiusiu,  and  de- 
posing the  Emperors  and  Shiogoons  when  they  pleased,  and 
electing  whomsoever  suited  them. 

So  early  as  1284  the  laws  of  the  country  seem  to  have 
followed  a  policy  of  exclusion.  In  that  year  an  officer  came 
over  from  China  in  the  quality  of  embassador,  accompanied 
by  a  priest,  but  he  was  taken  and  executed  on  the  pretext 
that  he  was  come  to  spy  out  the  land.  Some  years  after, 
another  priest,  Na  yissang,  came  from  China,  and  he  also 
was  treated  at  Kamakura  as  a  spy,  and  imprisoned,  but  was 
afterward  liberated,  and  built  the  temple  of  Nan  jenji,  still 
standing  in  Miako. 

In  1308,  Hana  zo  no,  then  twelve  years  of  age,  was 
chosen  by  the  officers  of  the  Hojio  family  at  Kamakura  as 
Emperor. 

In  1312  the  Kwaurei  Hojio  Sada  toki  died,  much  respected, 
and  the  place  of  minister  was  kept  for  his  son,  Sada  toki,  for 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  101 

five  years  by  two  relations,  till  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  became  Kwanrei. 

The  executive  at  Kamakura  had  named  Go  daigo  as  suc- 
cessor to  the  Emperor,  and  he  came  to  the  throne  when  he 
was  thirty-one  years  of  age.  He  very  soon  began  to  be  irri- 
tated with  the  position  he  held,  ruled  over  by  subordinates 
at  Kamakura.  He  married  the  daughter  of  Chiooso  Kane 
Kado,  a  high  officer  of  Chinese  extraction. 

In  1321  the  office  known  as  the  Ki  rokusho  was  established 
in  the  palace  at  Miako. 

Taka  toki,  the  young  Kwanrei,  was  very  dissipated,  pass- 
ing his  time  between  wine  and  women,  and  in  consequence 
was  hated;  and  in  1325  Yori  Kazoo  and  Kooni  nanga,  by 
secret  orders  from  the  Emperor,  set  out  on  an  attempt  to 
take  his  life ;  but  he  was  previously  informed  of  it,  and  seized 
them,  and  put  them  to  death.  Taka  toki  being  ill,  shaved 
his  head  and  took  orders  when  he  was  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  and  his  relative,  Taka  Ske,  at  Nagasaki,  assumed  the 
chief  power.  The  arrogance  of  the  Hojio  family  at  Kama- 
kura excited  intense  ill-will  at  Miako,  and  the  attempt  to 
overthrow  this  power  gave  rise  to  the  troubles  known  as  the 
war  between  the  North  and  South  Emperors,  which  desolated 
Japan  for  many  years,  and  which  ended  in  the  downfall  of 
both  the  Emperor  and  the  Hojio  faction. 

In  1327,  Oto  no  mia,  one  of  the  Emperor's  sons,  deter- 
mined to  break  down  the  power  of  the  Hojio  family  at 
Kamakura;  but  his  intrigues  were  divulged,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  shave  his  head  and  become  a  priest,  as 
Tendai  no  Zass,  or  head  of  the  Buddhists.  But  this  did 
not  prevent  him  putting  on  his  armor  again  when  occa- 
sion offered.  He  afterward,  under  the  name  of  Mori 
Yoshi,  was  Shiogoon. 

1330.  The  Emperor  stiD  longed  to  destroy  the  influence 
of  the  Hojio  party.  He  consulted  with  the  Buddhist  priests, 
then  a  very  powerful  body  in  the  realm.  He  built  the  fort- 
ress of  Kassangi  in  Yamato,  to  be  seen  to  this  day ;  but  his 
design  was  discovered,  and  he  was  obliged  to  fly  to  this  fort, 


102  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

whence  he  sent  for  Koosinoki  massa  Singhi,  then  a  small 
officer  in  Kawadsi,  but  considered  a  very  able  soldier. 

In  1331  the  forces  of  Taka  toki  attacked  and  took  the 
castle  of  Kassangi,  and  taking  Godaigo  prisoner,  sent  him 
to  the  island  of  Oki,  and  for  some  years  there  was  no  Em- 
peror. Ko  gen  was  called  "Ten wo"  by  the  Kamakura  party, 
but  he  was  called  the  False  Emperor  by  his  opponents. 

In  1332,  Otonomia,  Nitta,  and  Koosinoki  met  at  Chi  wa 
ya,  a  castle  near  Miako.  While  the  Kamakura  army  of 
Hojio  overcame  the  other  detachments,  they  were  repulsed 
by  that  under  Koosinoki.  Nitta  Yoshi  assembled  an  army 
in  the  province  of  Kowotski.  Troops  were  sent  against  him 
from  Kamakura,  but  after  several  engagements  he  marched 
upon  and  sacked  and  burned  that  town.  Among  the  officers 
of  the  Hojio  party  some  were  killed  in  battle,  others  were 
beheaded,  and  many  killed  themselves.  Among  the  last 
was  Taka  toki.  His  son  had  his  throat  cut.  In  Kiusiu  the 
Hojio  party  was  defeated  by  Owotomo,  who  seized  the  gov- 
ernor, whose  life  was  saved,  but  all  the  other  members  of 
the  Hojio  family,  who  had  been  so  overbearing  during  their 
period  of  rule,  were  massacred  by  the  people.  Their  author- 
ity, which  had  been  paramount  for  years  in  Kamakura,  and 
thence  in  the  empire,  was  completely  broken  down. 

Godaigo  was  restored  to  the  throne.  He  had  not  im- 
proved by  adversity,  and  was  weak  in  his  character.  He 
removed  all  the  officers  in  place,  and,  against  the  advice  of 
his  friends  and  ministers,  conferred  rank  and  power  on  Ashi- 
kanga  Taka  ooji,  who  had  entered  into  a  conspiracy  against 
him,  and  who  afterward  became  the  most  powerful  man  in 
the  empire  and  founder  of  a  long  line  of  Shiogoons.  The 
Emperor  gave  to  those  who  had  assisted  him  large  landed 
possessions :  to  Ashikanga,  the  provinces  of  Hitatsi,  Musasi, 
and  Simosa;  to  Nitta  Yoshi  Sada,  Kowotski  and  Harima; 
and  to  his  son,  Etsingo ;  to  Koosinoki,  Setsu  and  Kawadsi ; 
and  to  others  in  proportion.  Mori  Yosi,  the  royal  priest,  had 
been  appointed  Shiogoon,  but  at  the  instance  of  Ashikanga 
was  imprisoned  and  deposed.  The  Emperor  had  been  warned 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  103 

against  Ashikanga  by  Madenga  koji  chika  foossa,  his  minis- 
ter, in  vain.  This  minister  was  the  author,  in  1341,  of  the 
"Shoku  gen  sho,"  the  red  book  of  the  court  of  Miako. 

The  war  which  was  now  commencing  is  known  as  the 
war  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  Emperors — the 
Hokko  cho  and  the  Nancho.  Each  party  set  up  one  Em- 
peror after  another,  while  the  war  raged  under  generals  who 
were  fighting  for  the  office  of  commander-in-chief  rather  than 
for  the  empire.  Ashikanga  and  Nitta,  Koosinoki  and  Hosso- 
kawa,  Kikootchi  and  Owotomo,  were  the  prominent  leaders ; 
while  Godaigo,  as  Emperor  of  the  South,  was  succeeded  by 
Go  mura  Kami,  retaining  possession  of,  during  a  series  of 
misfortunes,  the  three  insignia  of  imperial  power.  On  the 
other  hand,  Ko  gen,  called  False  Emperor,  was  succeeded 
as  Emperor  of  the  North  by  his  brother  Ko  mio,  who  abdi- 
cated in  favor  of  Sh'ko,  who  was  taken  prisoner,  and  Ko 
ngong  took  his  place,  but  he  and  both  his  predecessors  fell 
into  the  hands  of  their  opponent.  After  the  destruction  of 
Kamakura  and  the  downfall  of  the  Hojio  family  in  1332,  the 
theater  of  war  changed  to  the  neighborhood  of  Miako.  Yoshi 
mitz,  afterward  the  great  Ashikanga,  was  appointed  Shio- 
goon  in  1367,  when  he  was  ten  years  of  age.  On  both  sides 
treachery  on  the  part  of  the  generals  seems  to  have  been  a 
trivial  and  common  occurrence;  and  this  is  not  surprising, 
inasmuch  as  there  was  no  principle  involved,  and  no  party- 
cry  to  rally  under.  Each  general  was  fighting  for  himself 
and  for  his  own  advancement,  while  the  opposing  Emperors 
looked  on  apparently  without  much  feeling  or  interest  in  the 
question  at  issue.  By  this  war  in  the  island  of  Kiusiu  the 
family  of  Satsuma  largely  increased  its  power  and  possessions 
at  the  expense  of  Kikootchi. 

In  the  year  1392,  by  the  mediation  of  O-ooji,  lord  of  the 
provinces  in  the  west  part  of  Nippon,  peace  was  brought 
about.  He  induced  the  Emperor  of  the  South  to  bring  to 
Miako  the  three  emblems,  and  to  give  them  up  to  his  rival, 
accepting  the  title  of  Dai  jio  ten  wo.  Thenceforward  both 
Emperors  lived  in  Miako,  Go  ko  matz  reigning.  During  the 


104  HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

first  troublous  times  Ashikanga  had  been  strengthening  his 
position,  enriching  himself  and  rising  in  rank  and  favor  to 
the  highest  position  to  which  a  subject  could  attain.  He  built 
a  splendid  house  for  himself  in  Muro  Matchi  Street,  called 
the  Palace  of  Flowers,  and  two  others  called  respectively 
the  Gold  and  Silver  Houses,  which  were  large  enough  to  be 
taken  away  in  pieces  (after  his  death)  and  form  parts  of  dif- 
ferent temples,  of  which  these  parts  are  still  looked  upon  as 
the  chief  ornaments.  Such  is  the  temple  of  Tchikuboo  shima 
in  the  Great  Lake.  The  titles  given  him  were  the  head  of 
the  Gen  family;  Joone  san  goo — i.e.,  as  the  Emperor's  sec- 
ond son — and  Dai  Shiogoon.  He  was  at  length,  before  he 
was  forty,  raised  to  be  Dai  jo  dai  jin,  and  during  the  follow- 
ing year  he  gave  up  his  titles  and  place,  and,  shaving  his 
head,  retired  under  the  Buddhist  name  of  Zensan,  or  Heav- 
enly Mountain.  He  moved  about  with  a  style  and  equipage 
similar  to  that  used  by  the  Emperor.  He  sent  an  embassy 
to  China,  and  received  an  answer,  in  which  he  was  styled 
Nippon  wo  or  King  of  Japan.  The  Emperor  visited  him, 
and  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  Kubosama — Kubo  being 
the  title  of  the  father  or  predecessor  of  the  Emperor  after 
abdication,  sama  implying  that  he  is  equal  to  or  "the  same 
as. ' '  He  was  the  first  to  whom  the  title  was  given,  and  it 
is  still  a  title  which  is  conferred  by  the  Emperor,  and  is  not 
inherent  in  any  office.  He  died  in  1408.  The  office  of  Shio- 
goon became  hereditary  in  the  family  of  Ashikanga,  and 
henceforth  the  position  of  Kwanrei  or  Minister  to  the  Shio- 
goon was  aspired  to  as  conveying  the  chief  power  in  the 
empire.  Kamakura  was  still  the  usual  residence  of  this 
officer.  Eight  families  were  set  apart,  from  among  whom 
it  was  eligible  to  name  the  Kwanrei,  chief  among  whom 
were  Hossokawa,  Hatake  yama,  and  Ooyay  soongi — the 
family  of  Hossokawa  being  at  this  time  the  most  powerful. 
After  the  death  of  the  great  Ashikanga,  his  descendants  were 
unable  to  wield  the  power  which  he  had  transmitted  to  them. 
He  does  not  seem  to  have  established  any  powerful  govern- 
ment throughout  the  empire,  but  would  appear  to  have  held 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  105 

what  he  had  seized  rather  from  the  country  being  tired  of 
civil  war  than  from  any  great  administrative  talent  in  him- 
self. During  the  century  which  followed,  civil  war  seems 
to  have  been  the  normal  state  of  Japan — one  man  after  an- 
other rising  to  seize  the  reins — at  one  time  at  Miako,  at  an- 
other at  Kamakura.  No  one  chief  was  able  to  reduce  the 
whole  empire  to  a  settled  state  of  tranquillity.  If  one  rose 
a  little  above  his  compeers,  they  combined  against  him; 
while  the  monasteries  and  religious  sects  were  so  power- 
ful as  to  be  able  to  insure  success  to  whatever  side  they 
gave  their  influence  and  assistance  to.  This  state  of 
things  continued  till  Nobu  nanga  gradually  rose  out  of 
the  crowd,  and  struck  down  the  power  of  these  Buddhist 
sects. 

1410.  While  the  appointment  of  a  Dai  or  great  Shiogoon 
was  kept  up  at  Miako,  an  inferior  officer,  with  the  title  of 
Shiogoon  only,  was  placed  in  Kamakura,  with  a  minister 
under  him.  The  men  who  filled  both  offices  were  still  of  the 
Ashikanga  family.  When  so  many  high  offices  were  held 
by  powerful  chiefs,  jealously  was  excited,  and  this  kept  up 
a  state  of  constant  civil  war  in  some  parts  of  the  country. 
The  three  rich  provinces  of  Bizen,  Mimesaka,  and  Harima 
were  taken  from  the  owner,  Akamatz,  who  to  revenge  him- 
self invited  the  Dai  Shiogoon  to  a  banquet  and  assassinated 
him.  He  in  turn  committed  suicide,  and  his  territory  was 
divided. 

In  1414  the  three  emblems  were  stolen,  but  were  after- 
ward recovered.  The  family  of  Hossokawa  was  rising  to 
power  and  wealth  at  Kamakura,  while  that  of  Ashikanga 
was  in  the  wane. 

In  1415,  for  the  first  time,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  ruling 
powers  known  as  a  Tokusayay.  This  is  a  law  suddenly 
passed,  by  which  all  mercantile  engagements  are  at  an  end 
and  all  debts  cancelled.  This  act  of  arbitrary,  high-handed 
injustice  has  been  carried  out  over  and  over  again  in  Japan, 
and  is  generally  the  act  of  some  high  officer  who  has  bor- 
rowed money  largely.  Whether  it  was  carried  to  the  full 


106  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

extent  stated  may  be  doubted,  but  it  has  been  the  cause  of 
much  trouble  and  anxiety. 

In  1452  Ashikanga  nari  ooji,  son  of  the  former  Shiogoon 
of  Kamakura,  was  obliged  to  fly  to  Ko  nga  in  the  province 
of  Simotsuki. 

In  1466  the  war  known  in  history  as  the  "Onin"  com- 
menced, and  lasted  during  the  following  eleven  years.  The 
dispute  arose  between  two  sons  of  the  chief  Shibba,  in  which 
the  late  Shiogoon  and  his  successor  took  opposite  sides.  This 
was  the  breeze  which  fanned  the  smoldering  flame  arising  in 
the  desire  on  the  part  of  the  wife  of  the  abdicated  Shiogoon 
that  her  son  should  be  nominated  to  succeed,  otherwise  he 
would  be  compelled  to  shave  his  head  and  become  a  priest. 
The  whole  country  around  Miako  was  desolated  by  war  and 
slaughter,  great  excesses  being  committed,  during  which 
houses,  temples,  libraries,  and  documents  of  value  were 
destroyed,  and,  as  might  have  been  expected,  a  famine  oc- 
curred in  1472.  This,  together  with  the  death  of  the  gen- 
erals commanding  on  both  sides — Yamana  Sozeng  and  Hosso- 
kawa — led  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  in  1474,  when  some 
years  of  quiet  and  peace  followed. 

1487.  The  famous  Ota  do  Kwang  was  assassinated  by 
Sadamasa.  An  anecdote  related  of  him  is  often  taken  as  a 
subject  by  Japanese  artists.  He  was  out  hawking  when 
a  heavy  rain  came  on.  Seeing  a  little  cottage,  he  with  his 
attendants  went  to  ask  for  a  grass  rain-coat.  A  beautiful 
young  woman  came  out,  and  upon  his  asking  .for  what  he 
wanted,  she  went  to  the  garden,  pulled  a  branch  of  a  flower, 
and  kneeling  down  presented  it  to  the  gentleman.  Looking 
at  the  plant,  he  at  once  perceived  that  she  was  modestly 
making  a  play  upon  the  word  rain-coat,  the  plant  being 
known  by  the  name  of  "no  seed,"  which  implied  also  by  a 
turn  of  words  that  she  had  no  rain-coat  to  give  him. 

1487.  War  again  broke  out  between  the  Shiogoon  and 
Sasaki  in  the  province  of  Oomi,  which  lasted  for  three  or 
four  years,  when  the  Shiogoon  fled  to  the  territories  of 
O-ooji,  then  chief  of  the  western  provinces  of  Nippon. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  107 

About  1494  the  family  of  Hojio  of  Odawara  took  its  rise 
in  the  person  of  Zinkio,  who  had  been  a  merchant  in  Isse, 
but  whose  genius  seems  to  have  been  military,  and  who  was 
known  afterward  as  Hojio  so  woon.  He  seized  whatever 
territory  in  the  Kwanto  and  around  the  castle  of  Odawara 
he  could  lay  his  hands  upon.  During  these  periods  this  un- 
fortunate country  was  not  only  desolated  by  civil  war  and 
all  its  horrors,  but  it  suffered  severely  in  addition  from  con- 
vulsions of  nature.  In  1472  a  famine  arose  as  the  concomi- 
tant of  war.  In  1475  a  very  extensive  earthquake  occurred 
on  the  sixth  day  of  the  eighth  month,  when  a  wave  from  the 
sea,  during  a  temporary  subsidence  of  the  earth,  carried 
away  at  one  sweep  a  large  part  of  the  lower  quarter  of  the 
city  of  Osaka.  In  1496  there  was  a  drought  all  over  the  em- 
pire, which  was  followed  by  a  famine  in  1497.  And  the  next 
year  was  marked  by  severe  earthquakes  all  over  Japan; 
while  in  1506  all  the  old  fir- trees  on  the  hill  Kassunga  yama 
near  Narra  died  to  the  number  of  above  7,000.  A  similar 
disease  had  visited  Japan  in  1406,  exactly  a  hundred  years 
before.  In  1514  severe  drought  and  dreadful  thunderstorms 
were  followed  in  1515  by  earthquakes  over  the  whole  country. 

The  new  century  brought  no  cessation  from  war  and 
assassination.  Hossokawa,  then  prime  minister,  was  assas- 
sinated by  his  servant  Kassai.  O-ooji,  from  the  western 
provinces,  marched  upon  Miako,  bringing  his  protege,  the 
late  Shiogoon,  with  him,  and,  seizing  the  capital,  caused  the 
Emperor  to  install  him  as  prime  minister  or  Kwanrei,  an 
office  which  had  for  many  years  been  in  the  hold  of  the  three 
families,  Shibba,  Hossokawa,  and  Hatake  yama.  An  at- 
tempt was  made  in  Miako  to  assassinate  the  Shiogoon  during 
the  night,  but  he  killed  the  assassins  with  his  own  sword. 

In  1510  Nangao,  a  servant,  and  relative  of  Ooyay  Soongi, 
minister  at  Kamakura,  rebelled  against  his  master,  defeated 
him,  and  entered  into  possession  of  his  castle  and  territory 
in  the  province  of  Etsingo,  where  he  afterward  became  very 
powerful  as  Ooyay  Soongi  Kengshing.  Hossokawa  and 
O-ooji  drove  one  another  alternately  out  of  Miako,  but  ulti- 


108  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

mately  the  latter  retired  to  his  own  western  province  of 
Suwo;  and  during  the  same  time  Hojio  of  Odawara  was 
fighting  in  the  Kwanto  with  Miura. 

1486.     Hossokawa  massa  moto  was  made  Kwanrei. 

In  1521,  for  the  first  time  for  many  years,  the  Emperor 
made  a  public  appearance.  The  officers  anr*  ,ourt  were  both 
impoverished.  The  land  was  barely  and  sparsely  cultivated. 
The  young  were  growing  up  in  perfect  ignorance.  Hosso- 
kawa brought  Yoshi  haru  to  Miako,  and  made  him  Shiogoon, 
and  put  the  Shiogoon,  Yoshitanne,  into  confinement  in  the 
island  of  Awadsi.  The  following  year  the  latter  died  in 
the  province  of  Awa,  where  his  descendants  still  live,  and 
the  head  of  the  family  is  still  known  as  "Awa  kubo." 

In  the  year  1523  an  attempt  was  made  to  commence  a 
trade  with  China  at  Ningpo.  O-ooji,  the  lord  of  the  western 
provinces,  sent  over  ships.  But  at  this  time  the  coasts  of 
China  were  infested  by  Japanese  pirates,  and  the  attempt 
to  trade  does  not  seem  to  have  been  successful:  it  shows, 
however,  that  a  commerce  was  beginning  before  the  Portu- 
guese visited  Japan. 

1528.  Mioshi  kai  woong,  from  the  province  of  Awa  in 
Sikok,  attacked  Miako;  the  Kwanrei,  Takakooni,  on  the 
part  of  the  Shiogoon,  met  him  at  the  Katsura  gawa,  the 
river  running  into  the  sea  at  Osaka,  but  was  defeated,  and 
the  Shiogoon  fled  to  Oomi,  where  the  head  of  the  Sasaki 
family  gave  him  shelter. 

1530.  The  following  year  the  Kwanrei  and  Mioshi  were 
again  at  war  in  the  neighborhood  of  Osaka,  when  the  former 
was  defeated,  taken  prisoner,  and  put  to  death. 

1532.  Haru  moto,  whom  Mioshi  had  placed  as  Kwanrei 
in  Miako,  took  offense  at  some  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
latter,  and  ordered  him  to  be  killed. 

1536.  At  this  period  the  Emperor  was  very  poor  and  his 
expenses  were  defrayed  by  O-ooji,  the  lord  of  the  western 
provinces,  to  whom  the  Emperor  gave  the  title  of  Da  zai  no 
dai  ni.  The  Emperor  Go  Tsutchi  died  in  such  poverty  that 
his  body  lay  unburied  for  some  days  for  want  of  money. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    EMPIRE.  109 

To  this  date  the  annals  of  the  Emperors  are  brought 
down.  Since  the  accession  of  the  present  dynasty  of  Shio- 
goons,  the  printing  of  every  work  relative  to  government  is 
prohibited.  There  are  slight  notices  of  remarkable  occur- 
rences during  each  year  published  in  an  almanac  form ;  as, 
for  instance,  it  is  noted  that  in  1533,  on  the  tenth  month, 
eighth  day — i.e.,  November — there  were  observed  an  ex- 
traordinary number  of  falling  stars,  and  in  1534  a  very  fatal 
epidemic  passed  over  the  country. 

1537.  During  this  year  disturbances  arose  between  the 
Buddhist  priests  of  the  Tendai  sect  of  the  Hiyaysan  monas- 
tery, and  those  of  the  Hokkay  or  Nitchi  ren  sect.     The  for- 
mer burned  down  the  temple  of  the  latter,  and  with  it  nearly 
the  half  of  Miako  was  consumed. 

1538.  In  Kwanto  the  chiefs  were  again  at  war.     Hojio 
attacked  Yamano  ootchi  in  his  castle  of  Kawa  goi  near  Yedo 
and  routed  him  by  a  night  attack.     Takeda  Singeng,  now  a 
lad,  turned  his  father  out  of  his  possessions  in  Kahi.« 

In  1539,  muskets  were  first  known — brought  over  to 
Tanegasima  by  the  Portuguese,  pistols  being  known  to  this 
day  by  the  name  of  "tanegasima."  According  to  the  "His- 
tory of  the  Church  in  Japan,"  "The  islands  of  Japan  were 
first  discovered  in  the  last  century,  but  at  what  time  is  very 
uncertain — some  say  in  the  year  1534;  St.  Francis  Xavier 
believed  it  was  rather  five  or  six  years  after.  Be  it  as  it 
will,  Father  Maffius  and  others  tell  us  that  three  Portuguese 
merchants,  Antony  Mora,  Francis  Zaimor,  and  Anthony 
Pexot,  in  their  voyage  from  Dodra,  in  Siam,  to  China,  were 
thrown  by  tempests  upon  the  islands  of  Japan  in  1541,  and 
put  in  at  the  kingdom  of  Cangoxima."  This  is  the  southern 
part  of  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  off  which  lies  the  island  of  Ta- 
nega  or  Tanesima.  Mendez  Pinto,  who  appears  to  have  been 
wrecked  in  this  vessel,  gives  no  date,  but,  from  his  account, 
the  sensation  caused  by  the  pistols  and  muskets  brought  to 
this  warlike  nation  seems  to  have  been  much  greater  than 
that  caused  by  the  apparition  of  strangers.  It  is  not  wonder- 
ful that  the  year  should  have  been  noted  in  the  Japanese 


110  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

calendars  as  that  in  which  firearms  were  introduced.  They 
did  not  anticipate  that  the  arrival  of  these  foreigners  was  to 
be  to  the  empire  the  source  of  much  trouble.  At  this  time 
the  Lioo  Kioo  Islands  seem  to  have  been  well  known  to  the 
buccaneers  on  the  Chinese  coast,  and  with  the  strong  south- 
erly monsoons,  so  frequently  broken  up  by  typhoons,  it  was 
not  likely  that  Japan  could  remain  long  undiscovered;  and 
the  Japanese  must  have  known  of  Europeans  and  their  cus- 
toms from  their  own  sailors  trading  to  China  and  Singapore. 

1540.  JViowori  Moto  nari,  ancestor  of  Choshiu  of  the  pres- 
ent day,  and  founder  of  the  family,  was  embroiled  with  his 
feudal  superior,  Amako  of  Idzumo,  and  gave  in  his  allegiance 
to  O-ooji.  This  state  of  disturbances  is  noted  in  the  earliest 
letters  of  the  Jesuits,  written  from  Amangutchi,  the  capital 
of  these  provinces,  which  was  afterward  visited  by  Francis 
Xavier. 

1 542.  This  year  was  born  (26th  day  of  twelfth  month) 
To  sho  Shingku — better  known  as  lyeyas — at  Oka  saki  in 
Mikawa;  and  during  the  year  Ima  ngawa  and  Nobu  hide, 
father  of  Nobu  nanga,  fought  a  battle  at  Atsuka  Saka  in 
Mikawa.  The  Portuguese  came  to  Boongo  to  trade,  and 
received  a  warm  reception  in  the  territories  of  Owotomo. 

In  1543  the  Portuguese  came  back  again;  Owotomo, 
Boongo  no  kami,  was  then  lord  of  this  province,  and  of  a 
great  part  of  the  island  of  Kiusiu.  An  officer,  by  name 
Seito,  was  sent  by  him  with  the  Portuguese  to  Miako. 
Hitherto  the  history  of  Japan  has  been  made  up  entirely 
from  native  sources;  but  after  this  time  the  letters  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  the  accounts  published  from  time  to  time  by 
Europeans,  become  of  interest.  Kagosima,  the  port  of  Sat- 
suma  at  which  these  Portuguese  merchants  first  touched,  is 
not  a  place  adapted  for  carrying  on  a  large  trade.  It  is  too 
far  out  to  sea,  and  cut  off  from  the  interior  (which  is  not 
fertile)  by  high  ranges  of  hills.  The  port  offered"  by  Owo- 
tomo was  much  better  suited  to  their  views.  It  is  in  the 
heart  of  the  inland  sea,  well  sheltered,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  having  water-communication  with  the  extensive  fringe 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  Ill 

of  coast  bordering  that  sea.  The  island  of  Sikok,  the  most 
fertile  part  of  Japan,  was  within  easy  access.  The  whole 
of  the  western  part  of  Nippon  and  the  island  of  Kiusiu  could 
bring  their  products  to  this  port  by  water,  while  intercourse 
with  Osaka  and  the  capital  was  comparatively  easy.  The 
objection  to  Kagosima  applies  equally  to  Nagasaki,  which 
is  cut  off  from  trading  communication  with  the  interior  of 
the  country  by  the  difficulty  both  of  its  water  and  land  ap- 
proaches. The  family  of  Owotomo  had  gradually  risen  to 
wealth  and  power  in  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  and  at  the  time 
the  Jesuits  arrived,  the  Lord  or  Tono,  called  by  them  Francis, 
was  the  greatest  of  the  feudal  chiefs  then  ruling  in  the  island. 
1545.  Miako  was  reduced  by  war  and  fires  to  such  a  state 
that  it  became  impossible  to  live  in  it ;  whoever  did  attempt 
to  live  there  ran  the  risk  of  being  burned,  killed,  or  starved. 
The  Koongays  left,  and  generally  settled  under  the  protec- 
tion of  some  feudal  chief  in  the  provinces. 

1548.  The  Shiogoon,  who  had  fled  to  Sakamoto,  returned 
to  Miako,  and  Hossokawa  was  appointed  Kwanrei. 

1549.  Mioshi  tchokay,  called  Mioxindo  no  in  the  "His- 
tory of  the  Church"  (or  Naga  Yoshi),  took  up  arms  against 
Haru  moto  and  the  Shiogoon  party,  and  the  latter  fled  again 
to  Sakamoto,  about  twelve  miles  from  Miako.     Nobu  hide, 
father  of  Nobu  nanga,  died,  leaving  him,  his  son,  heir  of  all 
the  possessions  he  had  acquired.     Francis  Xavier,  then  at 
Malacca,  whither  he  had  gone  with  the  fondness  for  change 
and  excitement  which  seemed  to  have  characterized  his  ca- 
reer, met  with  some  of  those  who  were  returning  to  Japan. 
He  immediately  determined  to  visit  it.     He  arrived  in  the 
year  1549,  and  left  it  again  in  1551,  disappointed  and  dis- 
heartened with   the  realities  of   missionary  work.     In   the 
"History  of  the  Church"  it  is  said,  in  1549   (p.  72):  "On 
the  way  from  Amangutchi  ( Yama  ootchi)  to  Miako  the  ways 
were  infested  with  soldiers,  by  reason  of  troubles  between 
the  Dairi  and  Cubo.     Miako  inspired  Xavier  with  the  desire 
of  planting  there  the  standard  of  Christ,  but  the  effect  did 
not  at  all  answer  his  expectations.     Miako,  which  signifies 


112  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

a  thing  worth  seeing,  was  no  more  than  the  shadow  of  what 
it  formerly  had  been,  such  terrible  fires  and  wars  had  laid 
•it  waste,  and  the  present  condition  of  affairs  threatened  it 
with  total  destruction.  All  the  neighboring  princes  were 
combined  against  the  Cubosama,  and  nothing  was  to  be 
heard  but  the  noise  of  armies.  However,  he  endeavored 
to  gain  an  audience  from  the  Cubosama  and  Dairi ;  but  his 
poverty  made  him  contemptible.  It  required  10,000  caixes 
to  gain  an  audience.  To  comfort  himself  he  preached  in  the 
streets;  but  the  town  being  full  of  confusion,  and  the  thoughts 
of  every  man  taken  up  with  reports  of  war,  none  listened  to 
him.  After  a  fortnight's  stay,  hearing  that  the  Dairi  bore 
only  the  name  of  a  monarch,  and  that  the  Cubo  was  abso- 
lute only  in  the  Tensa  and  Gokinai,  he  saw  it  was  nothing 
but  lost  labor  and  expense  to  have  his  leave  to  preach  over 
all  Japan  when  he  was  not  master." 

1550.  Yoshi  ham,  late  Shiogoon,  died.     Mioshi  tchokay 
burned  Hingashi  yama,  or  Hiyay  san,  a  collection  of  monas- 
teries and  temples  near  Miako. 

1551.  O-ooji  was  attacked  by  the  forces  of  one  of  his 
own  officers,  Suyay  haru  kata,  who  obliged  him  to  fly,  and 
he  committed  suicide  with  several  high  Koongays  who  were 
residing  under  his  protection.     This  Suyay  had   promised 
Owotomo,   chief  of   Boongo,   to  give  back  to  his  younger 
brother,  Yoshi  Naga,  the  command  in  the  province  of  Suwo. 
At  the  death  of  O-ooji  the  seal  under  which  trade  with  China 
had  been  carried  on  was  lost,  and  the  trade  suspended. 

1552.  At  this  time  the  religion  of  Christ  was  brought, 
according  to  native  accounts,  by  "Nan  bang,"  foreigners 
from  the  south,  to  Boongo.     The  period  at  which  this  event 
took  place  was  worthy  of  note.     Japan  had  been  for  years 
torn  by  rival  factions,  and  by  the  contests  of  men  intriguing 
for  power.     The  Emperor  was  powerless,  and  reduced  by 
poverty  and  neglect  to  a  position  bordering  on  contempt. 
The  eastern  court  at  Kamakura  retained  some  portions  of  its 
former  power,   and  was  at  least  a  hotbed  where  schemes 
might  be  hatched  for  overthrowing  either  the  power  of  the 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  113 

court  of  Miako,  or  that  of  some  of  the  neighboring  princes. 
Yedo  was  almost  unknown,  except  as  a  village  dependency 
of  the  castle.  The  western  provinces  were  under  the  sway 
of  independent  chiefs,  while  the  island  of  Kiusiu  hardly 
acknowledged  the  authority  of  the  Mikado.  A  small  begin- 
ning of  commerce  with  China  had  been  going  on  for  some 
years  past,  and  was  conducted  with  Ningpo.  It  was  not 
likely,  therefore,  that  at  the  first  landing  upon  Tanegasima 
the  country  and  people  of  Japan  were  unknown  to  the  Port- 
uguese buccaneers  upon  the  coast  of  China.  Not  many 
years  had  elasped  since  China  had  been  first  visited  by  the 
Portuguese,  and  Liampo  or  Ningpo  was  their  northern  port. 
If  Mendez  Pinto  is  to  be  credited,  there  were  800  Portuguese 
then  living  near  that  city  under  their  own  laws ;  but  if  his 
account  of  the  doings  of  his  countrymen  in  China  be  correct 
— and  it  is  in  many  things  corroborated  by  concurrent  testi- 
mony— the  men  who  sailed  about  these  seas  were  not  exactly 
the  men  best  suited  to  spread  a  healthy  commerce,  or  to 
propagate  correct  notions  of  the  Christian  religion.  They 
were  the  buccaneers  of  that  day,  and  mixed  up  their  business 
of  piracy  and  murder  with  trade  and  religion  in  a  strange 
medley.  The  vast  opening  consequent  upon  the  doubling  of 
the  Cape  induced  these  men  to  push  their  discoveries  further 
and  further.  Europe  had  just  been  convulsed  by  the  throes 
of  delivery  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Twin  children  had  been 
born  by  the  Reformation  to  the  Church,  and  the  schismatic 
operations  of  Luther  without  gave  rise  to  the  crafty  strength- 
ening process  of  Loyola  within  the  Church.  The  propa- 
gandist zeal  of  Jesuitism  at  this  period  put  forth  her  strength 
to  reap  the  harvest  in  Japan ;  but  the  bane  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  pursued  her  here,  and  her  desire  to  make  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  of  this  world  brought  to  naught  all  her  schemes. 
The  Inquisition  was  in  full  operation  in  Portugal  and  Spain, 
where  John  III.  and  Philip  II.  directed  the  missions  of  the 
Church;  and  the  same  zeal  was  carried  into  India  and  all 
their  foreign  possessions.  The  whole  power,  political  and 
ecclesiastical,  in  the  East,  was  allowed  by  other  nations  to 


114  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

be  in  the  hands  of  the  King  of  Portugal :  without  his  per- 
mission no  bishop  could  be  appointed ;  no  episcopal  see  cre- 
ated without  his  consent;  and  he  retained  the  right  of  filling 
up  vacancies  in  every  see.  No  European  missionary  could 
go  to  the  East  without  his  sanction,  and  with  that  only  in  a 
Portuguese  vessel;  and  no  bull  or  brief  from  the  Holy  See 
was  of  any  effect  hi  the  East  until  it  had  received  the  appro- 
bation of  the  King,  who  in  return  was  supposed  to  protect 
and  support  the  Church  of  Rome.  This  was  known  as  the 
Protectorate  of  the  Crown  of  Portugal,  and  was  annually 
confirmed  by  Papal  bulls,  in  which  was  inserted  a  clause 
whereby  the  Pope  annuled  beforehand  every  bull  which  any 
one  of  his  successors  might  issue  to  the  contrary.  Such  was 
the  epoch  at  which  the  Portuguese  arrived  in  Japan. 

1553.  Mioshi  attacked  and  killed  Hossokawa,  the  minis- 
ter of  the  Shiogoon,  and  the  following  year  attacked  Miako, 
whence  the  Shiogoon  fled  to  Tanba. 

1555.  Fighting  was  going  on  between  Mowori  moto  nari 
(ancestor  of  Mowori  Daizen  no  daiboo)  and  Suyay  haru  taka, 
who  had  killed  his  lord  O-ooji.  Mowori  was  victorious,  and 
gained  possession  of  all  the  "middle  or  central  provinces" 
west  of  Miako — laying  the  foundation  of  the  wealth  and 
power  which  remain  to  the  family  to  the  present  time.  An 
embassy  was  sent  this  year  to  Japan  from  China,  to  complain 
of  pirates  from  the  island  of  Kiusiu  who  were  ravaging  the 
coasts  of  China. 

1557.  The  Emperor  Gonara  died.     Nobu  nanga  put  to 
death  his  own  younger  brother  Nobu  yuki. 

1558.  Oki  matchi  ascended  the  throne  at  forty-two  years 
of  age.     At  this  time  Hideyoshi,   better  known   as  Taiko 
sama,  as  a  young  man  became  an  officer  in  the  service  of 
Nobu  nanga. 

1559.  Etsingo  Nangao  Kage  tora,  a  large  feudal  chief, 
went  to  Miako  from  his  province  of  Etsingo  to  pay  his  re- 
spects to  the  Emperor,  and  to  claim  his  installation  into  the 
office  of    Kwanrei,   when    his    name    and  designatior   was 
changed  to  Ooyay  Soongi  teru  tora. 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  115 

1560.  Ima  ngawa,  lord  of  Suruga,  was  one  of  the  chiefs 
who  were  competing  for  power.     He  had  raised  a  large  force 
and  met  Nobu  nanga,  who  was  not  inclined  to  face  him  with 
a  small  number  such  as  he  then  had  with  him;  but  Hide- 
yoshi  persuaded  him  to  join  issue,  and  by  skill  and  stratagem 
they  defeated  and  killed  Ima  ngawa,  and  Nobu  nanga  took 
possession  of  all  his  territory. 

1561.  lyeyas  was  infeft  by  Nobu  nanga  in  the  province 
of  Mikawa,  and  made  the  castle  of  Okasaki  his  residence. 

1562.  Mowori  moto  nari  and  Owotomo  Boongo  no  kami, 
or  Zo  rin  (the  great  patron  of  the  foreigners  in  Kiusiu),  were 
at  war,  which  was  terminated  by  the  interference  of  the  Shio- 
goon,  who  sent  down  a  messenger  to  restore  peace,  through 
a  matrimonial  alliance  and  enlargement  of  Owotomo's  ter- 
ritories. 

1563.  Fighting  was  going  on  in  the  neighborhood  of  Yedo 
between  Sattomi,  who  possessed  large  territories  in  Awa  and 
Owota,  on  the  one  side,  and  Hojio  of  Odawarra  on  the  other. 
A  great  battle  took  place  between  these  chiefs  at  Kowunodai, 
near  Yedo,  in  which  Sattomi  was  defeated.     The  defeat  took 
place  upon  the  9th  of  the  ninth  month,  a  festival-day  all  over 
Japan.     Since  the  defeat,  Kanagawa  and  Kawasaki,  then 
belonging  to  Sattomi,  have  held  the  festival  on  the  19th. 
Mowori  Motonari  this  year  completely  defeated  Amako,  the 
lord  Idzumo,  and  absorbed  his  territories,  thus  becoming  lord 
of  ten  provinces. 

1564.  Nobu  nanga  killed  his  father-in-law  Seito  Do  Sang, 
the  lord  of  Mino,  and  seized  all  his  territory,  and  changed 
his  own  residence,  which  had  been  hitherto  in  Nagoya  in 
Owarri,  to  Gifoo  in  Mino. 

In  1565  Matza  naga  hissa  hide  (Daxandono,  or  properly 
Danshio,  in  "History  of  the  Church")  and  Mioshi  attacked 
Yoshi  teru,  Shiogoon,  who  was  surprised,  and  committed 
suicide.  His  younger  brother  Yoshi  aki  fled  to  Oomi,  shaved 
his  head,  and  became  a  priest.  The  grandson  of  Yoshi  dzumi 
aimed  at  the  position  of  Shiogoon.  To  oppose  the  designs  of 
Mioshi,  who  was  attempting  to  assassinate  him,  Yoshi  aki 


116  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

joined  Nobu  nanga,  who  put  him  into  the  post  of  Shiogoon 
in  1568,  and  they  together  attacked  and  defeated  Mioshi. 

1569.  Nobu  nanga  found  it  necessary  to  begin  a  crusade 
against  the  Buddhist  priests,  and  their  wealthy  and  powerful 
establishments.     He    attacked  and  routed  and  killed  Kita 
batake,  the  lord  of  Isse.     He  built  a  palace  for  the  Emperor, 
but  it  was  so  small  and  shabby  that  the  Emperor  would  not 
inhabit  it,  but  lived  in  the  temple  of  Kammo,  near  Miako. 
This  year  the  palace  and  castle  of  Nijio  was  built  in  Miako, 
and  has  since  been  occupied  by  the  Shiogoons  as  their  metro- 
politan residence. 

1570.  Nobu  nanga  was  fighting  with  the  lord  of  the 
province  of  Etsizen,   Asakura,   who  was  defeated,  and  his 
territories  seized  by  Nobu  nanga. 

At  this  time  Nobu  nanga,  Hideyoshi,  and  lyeyas  found  it 
their  interest  to  be  friends.  Hideyoshi  had  grown  up  as  an 
officer  in  Nobu  nanga's  army,  and  both  are  said  to  have  been 
jealous  of  lyeyas  (known  as  a  young  man  as  "Sing  Koong"), 
probably  discerning  at  this  early  time  superior  administrative 
talents,  as  well  as  a  reticence  which  may  have  displeased 
them.  He  is  said  to  have  been  put  forward  by  them  into 
difficult  positions  to  get  rid  of  him,  but  the  vigor  of  his  char- 
acter increased  by  overcoming  the  obstacles  in  his  path.  He 
went  to  the  province  of  Oomi  at  the  time  Nobu  nanga  was 
fighting  with  the  troops  of  Asayee  and  Asakura  at  Anegawa, 
and  by  his  timely  assistance  turned  the  fortune  of  the  day. 

1571.  The  Buddhist  priesthood  had  at  this  time  arrived 
at  the  height  of  their  power.     The  arrival  of  the  Roman 
Catholics,  and  the  spread  of  their  doctrines,  was  probably 
hailed  by  many  as  a  relief  from  the  extravagant  pretensions 
and  power  of  the  monasteries,  and  it  was  hoped  that  they 
might  in  some  measure  balance  the  power  of  the  Buddhist 
priesthood.     All  over  the  country  these  monasteries  had  be- 
come very  wealthy.     The  monks,  bonzes,  or  bozans,  were 
very  numerous,  and  their  retainers  'and  dependents  formed 
an  army  sufficiently  powerful  to  cope  with  any  single  chief. 
The  policy  of  the  Roman  Catholics  seems  to  have  been  from 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  117 

the  first  of  an  aggressive  character,  attacking  vehemently 
the  native  priests,  abusing  their  characters,  and  getting  up 
discussions  in  public,  and  thus  unnecessarily  irritating  a  very 
powerful  body  in  the  kingdom.  Nobu  nanga  was  very  jeal- 
ous of  the  power  of  these  Buddhist  monasteries,  and  hated 
the  priests.  He  therefore  gave  his  countenance  to  these 
new-comers,  who  were  delighted,  as  thinking  it  showed  a 
zeal  for  their  mission,  while,  in  truth,  it  was  only  to  gratify 
his  hatred  of  the  native  bozans.  He  suddenly  fell  upon  the 
largest  of  the  monasteries,  the  Hiyaysan,  also  called  by  the 
early  writers  Freno  yama,  and  Hiyay  no  yama.  The  grounds 
are  said  to  have  been  of  great  beauty,  near  the  lake  of  Oomi, 
and  inclosing  thirteen  valleys ;  and  at  the  time  the  Jesuits 
arrived  in  the  country  there  were  said  to  be  500  temples 
within  the  area  of  the  monastery.  Nobu  nanga  burned  all 
the  temples  and  massacred  the  priests.  These  latter  had 
been  joined  by  some  of  Nobu  nanga's  late  opponents,  but  he 
defeated  them  all. 

1572.  Takeda  Singeng,  at  Mikatta  nga  harra  in  Tooto- 
mi,  was  fighting  with  lyeyas.  A  great  mortality  had  taken 
place  in  the  force  of  the  latter,  and  he  was  nearly  overcome, 
and  in  great  danger,  but  finally  conquered. 

The  same  year  the  Shiogoon  Yoshi  aki  became  embroiled 
with  Nobu  nanga,  who  arrested  him  and  put  him  in  prison, 
thus  bringing  to  a  termination  the  real  power  of  the  Ashi- 
kanga  family. 

During  the  year  lyeyas  was  beaten  by  Takeda  near 
Mitske;  he  was  obliged  to  fly,  and  was  pursued  across 
the  Tenrio  River  to  a  village,  Hamamatchi.  During  the 
night  he  heard  music,  and  creeping  up  with  some  of  his 
men  to  listen,  they  saw  Takeda  himself  sitting  enjoying  the 
music,  when  one  of  lyeyas's  men  fired  at  him  with  a  musket. 
He  was  wounded  and  gave  up  the  pursuit.  He  lingered  a 
while,  but  at  length  died  of  the  injury. 

1574.  All  over  the  country  Roman  Catholic  temples  were 
being  built,  exciting  the  Buddhist  priesthood  to  wrath. 

1575.  At  Nanga  shino,  in  Tootomi,  there  was  some  smart 


118  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

fighting  between  Katzu  yori,  son  of  Takeda  Singeng,  and 
lyeyas,  as  officer  of  Nobu  nanga.  Katzu  yori  was  very 
powerful,  and  had  a  large  army  with  him  of  well-trained 
soldiers,  and  Nobu  nanga  was  afraid  to  fight;  but  lyeyas 
declared  that  if  he  would  not  fight  he  himself  would  join 
Katzu  yori. 

1576.  Hideyoshi  was  sent  by  Nobu  nanga  to  Kiusiu  and 
the  west  provinces.  As  a  whim,  he  this  year  made  a  new 
name  for  himself  out  of  the  half  of  the  names  of  two  of  Nobu 
nanga' s  officers,  Shibata  and  Niwa,  and  calling  himself  Has- 
hiba,  a  name  by  which  he  is  frequently  spoken  of  by  the 
Jesuits. 

1576.  Nobu  nanga  built  the  castle  of  Azutchi  (called 
Anzuquiama  in  "History  of  the  Church")  in  the  province 
of    Oomij   a  castle  which  now  belongs  to  Ee  kamong  no 
Kami. 

1577.  Matz  nanga  hissa  hide,  known  in  the  "History  of 
the  Church"  as  Daxandono,  was  killed  by  Nobu  nanga. 

1578.  Hashiba  hide  yoshi  was  this  year  fighting  with 
Mowori  teru  moto,  known  to  the  Jesuits  as  the   King  of 
Amanguchi,  and  the  island  of  Kiusiu  was  devastated  by 
war  between  Owotomo,  son  of  the  Jesuits'  friend,  and  Shi- 
madzu  of  Satsuma,  the  result  being  that  Owotomo  was  de- 
feated, and  his  territory  much  diminished. 

1579.  The  two  Buddhist  sects,  Jodo  shiu  and  Nitchi  ren 
shiu,   held  a  great  discussion    upon    religion   before   Nobu 
nanga  at  Azutchi,  known  as  the  "Azutchi  rong." 

Akitchi  mitzu  hide,  one  of  Nobu  nanga's  best  officers, 
seized  the  province  of  Tanba.  The  Ikko  shiu,  a  Buddhist 
sect,  was  very  powerful  at  this  time,  and  had  possession  of 
the  castle  of  Osaka,  then  known  as  the  temple  of  Hoonganji. 
Nobu  nanga,  by  one  of  his  generals,  had  been  long  besieging 
it,  and  had  failed  in  taking  it.  In  1580  he  called  in  the  per- 
suasive interference  of  the  Emperor,  and  a  compact  was 
finally  made,  under  which  the  priests  consented  to  give  up 
this  strong  fortress,  which  has  ever  since  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  executive  power. 


HISTORY  OF   THE   EMPIRE.  119 

1581.  Hideyoshi  this  year  overran  the  province  of  Ha- 
rima,  destroying  the  castle  of  Miki,  and  began  to  build  the 
chateau  of  Himeji  for  himself  in  that  province;  while  Nobu 
nanga,  assisted  by  lyeyas  and  Hojio  of  Odawarra,  com- 
pletely demolished  the  power  of  the  Takeda  family  in  Kahi. 
The  war  is  known  as  the  "Ten  moku  san"  war,  from  the 
place  where  Takeda  concealed  and  destroyed  himself.  The 
tie  between  Nobu  nanga  and  his  generals  seemed  to  have 
been  very  slight,  and  he  does  not  appear  at  any  time  to 
have  been  considered  ruler  of  the  country.  On  more  than 
one  occasion  lyeyas  threatened  to  leave  him  and  throw  his 
weight  into  the  opposite  scale.  In  a  portrait  drawn  of  Nobu 
nanga  in  the  "History  of  the  Church,"  he  is  described  as 
"a  prince  of  large  stature,  but  of  a  weak  and  delicate  com- 
plexion, with  a  heart  and  soul  that  supplied  all  other  wants ; 
ambitious  above  all  mankind ;  brave,  generous  and  bold,  and 
not  without  many  excellent  moral  virtues;  inclined  to  jus- 
tice, and  an  enemy  to  treason.  "With  a  quick  and  penetrating 
wit,  he  seemed  cut  out  for  business;  excelling  in  military 
discipline,  he  was  esteemed  the  fittest  to  command  an  army, 
manage  a  siege,  fortify  a  town,  or  mark  out  a  camp,  of  any 
general  in  Japan,  never  using  any  heads  but  his  own :  if  he 
asked  advice,  it  was  more  to  know  their  hearts  than  to  profit 
by  their  advice.  He  sought  to  see  into  others  and  to  conceal 
his  own  counsel,  being  very  secret  in  his  designs ;  he  laughed 
at  the  worship  of  the  gods,  convinced  that  the  bonzes  were 
impostors,  abusing  the  simplicity  of  the  people,  and  screen- 
ing their  own  debauches  under  the  name  of  religion." 

This  is  the  character  given  of  him  by  the  Jesuits,  who 
considered  him  a  friend  to  their  cause,  and  had  some  hopes 
of  him  as  a  convert.  It  agrees  in  the  main  with  the  pict- 
ures drawn  of  him  by  the  Japanese.  Hating  the  Buddhist 
priests,  he  patronized  the  Jesuits  as  a  counterpoise,  encour- 
aging them  to  build  even  in  the  neighborhood  of .  his  own 
palace  at  Azutchi.  Under  the  encouragement  thus  given, 
the  Jesuit  priests  rose  to  favor  and  power  at  court.  The 
efforts  of  the  fathers  to  extend  their  influence  were  crowned 


120  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

with  success,  and  at  this  date  the  position  of  the  church  is 
described  as  follows:  "Father  A.  Valignan,  superior  of 
Japan,  for  convenience  of  government,  divided  Japan  into 
three  parts.  The  first  and  principal  is  that  island  where 
Miako  stands.  They  had  there  three  residences  of  the  So- 
ciety— Meaco,  Anzuquiama  (Azutchi-yama  in  Oomi)  and 
Takacu  qui.  In  the  residence  of  Miako  were  two  brothers 
and  two  fathers,  who  preached  and  celebrated  the  divine 
mysteries  daily  in  a  very  fair  church.  In  Anzuquiama  they 
had  two  fathers  and  two  brothers;  the  first  of  these  took 
care  of  the  church,  and  of  all  the  Christians  round  about; 
the  other  instructed  the  young  gentlemen  in  the  seminary, 
teaching  them  their  Catechism,  and  to  read  and  write  in 
Latin,  Portuguese  and  the  language  of  the  country.  In 
Tacucuqui  (Itami  in  Setzu)  there  was  only  one  father  and 
one  brother.  Justo  Ucondono  (Takayama),  governor  of  the 
place,  built  in  it  a  very  handsome  church  and  house  for 
the  fathers,  and  furnished  them  with  all  the  necessaries  for 
their  families.  About  three  leagues  off  were  the  churches 
of  Vocayama,  Fort  Imori  in  Kawadsi,  and  Sanga — all  de- 
pendencies of  this  residence.  Two  leagues  from  Sanga,  Don 
Simon  Tagandono  (Tango  no  Kami),  lord  of  Yao,  had  eight 
hundred  subjects,  all  Christians.  There  were  also  great 
numbers  of  them  in  Amangutchi,  but  without  any  church, 
it  being  expressly  against  the  king's  pleasure. 

"The  second  part  of  Japan  is  that  which  they  commonly 
call  Ximo  (Kiusiu).  There  the  Christians  had  most  churches, 
and  the  Jesuits  most  houses.  In  the  city  of  Funay,  the  me- 
tropolis of  Bungo,  there  was  both  a  college  and  a  university, 
where  they  took  degrees  of  masters  of  arts  and  doctors  of 
divinity.  There  were  twenty  Jesuits  in  the  college.  The 
uoviceship  stood  at  Vosuqui,  where  King  Francis  (i.e., 
Owotomo  Boongo  no  Kami)  resided.  Besides,  they  had 
two  residences — one  at  the  valley  of  Ju,  some  seven  leagues 
from  Funay,  and  another  at  Nocen — and  these  four  houses 
furnished  the  whole  country  with  evangelical  missionaries. 
Moreover,  they  had  a  house  at  Facata,  in  the  kingdom  of 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EMPIRE.  121 

Chicuzen,  that  was  tributary  to  Bungo ;  but  Aquizuqui,  hav- 
ing made  himself  master  of  that  country,  soon  beat  them 
out  of  those  quarters.  The  kingdom  of  Chicungo,  bordering 
upon  Chicuzen,  had  only  one  church,  which  was  governed 
since  Riozogi's  conquest  by  a  devout  Christian,  that  prince 
being  unwilling  to  entertain  any  Jesuits  in  his  states.  In 
the  kingdom  of  Fingo,  which  Aquizuqui  and  Riozogi  parted 
betwixt  them,  there  were  two  houses  of  the  Society — one  in 
Amacusa  and  the  other  at  Fort  Fundo ;  and  these  two  resi- 
dences took  charge  of  above  twenty  other  churches  in  that 
country.  As  for  the  island  of  Xequi  (Ko  Siki),  which  stands 
upon  the  confines  of  Amacusa,  they  had  only  one  church, 
with  near  5,000  Christians,  who  were  governed  by  one  of 
the  inhabitants;  for  the  lord  of  the  place,  though  he  was  to 
permit  the  fathers  to  visit  them,  would  not  hear  of  fixing  a 
residence ;  which  obliged  the  Christians,  on  the  more  solemn 
days,  to  come  over  to  the  church  of  Amacusa. 

"In  the  kingdom  of  Goto  (the  five  small  islands  to  the 
west  of  Japan),  since  Don  Lewis's  death,  there  was  neither 
church  nor  house,  the  uncle  and  tutor  to  the  young  prince 
being,  as  was  said,  a  most  professed  enemy  to  all  religion. 
The  King  of  Firando,  indeed,  though  a  heathen,  was  con- 
tent to  receive  two  priests  and  two  others  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Christians,  and  chiefly  his  uncle  and  son,  Don  John 
and  Don  Anthony. 

"As  for  the  kingdoms  of  Omura  and  Arima,  religion 
flourished  there  above  all  other  parts,  Bungo  only  excepted. 
The  fathers  had  three  houses  in  Omura,  one  in  Omura  itself, 
where  the  King  kept  his  court,  another  at  Nangasak,  and  a 
third  at  Curi,  and  out  of  these  three  churches  they  visited 
forty  several  churches,  and  had  charge  of  some  50,000 
Christians  that  were  in  that  kingdom.  In  Arima  they  had 
three  residences :  one  in  the  city  of  Arima,  with  five  Jesuits, 
whereof  two  had  care  of  the  seminary  for  educating  young 
nobles,  among  whom  was  the  King  of  Fiungas*  son,  cousin- 
german  to  the  King  of  Arima,  and  the  rest,  all  of  them 
sons  to  the  chief  lords  in  the  country;  the  second  at  Arie; 

6 


122  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

and  the  third  at  Cochinozi,  a  most  celebrated  port  for 
commerce. 

"In  the  kingdom  of  Saxuma,  where  St.  F.  Xaverius 
landed  at  his  first  entrance  into  Japan,  there  were  some 
few  Christians  whom  the  fathers  visited  by  times,  being  all 
banished  by  the  bonzes,  who  acted  by  the  King's  authority. 
They  reckoned  in  the  kingdom  of  Ximo  upward  of  30,000 
Christians. 

"The  third  part  of  Japan  (Sikok)  contains  only  four  king- 
doms, and  of  these  only  the  King  of  Tosa  received  the  faith. 
So  Father  Alex.  Valignan,  at  the  end  of  his  visit,  upon  his 
return  to  the  Indies,  left  150,000  Christians  in  Japan,  200 
churches  and  39  religious  of  his  own  order,  besides  several 
able,  young  and  virtuous  Japonians  who  helped  to  instruct 
the  new  Christians." 

In  1582  Nobu  nanga  was  gradually  overruning  all  Japan. 
He  had  given  the  revenues  of  the  island  of  Sikok  to  his  son, 
Nobu  taka.  "This  year  he  built  at  Azutchi  a  splendid  tem- 
ple. In  this  temple  he  collected  idols  of  all  the  gods  of  Japan, 
and  placed  in  the  midst  a  statue  of  himself,  calling  it  Xanthi ; 
i.e.,  supreme  ruler.  He  then,  like  Nebuchadnezzar,  issued 
an  edict  prohibiting  any  one  from  worshiping  any  other  idol, 
and  ordered  all  to  resort  to  this  place  on  his  birthday  to  wor- 
ship this  representation  of  himself.  The  first  that  adored 
was  his  eldest  son.  The  nobility  followed,  and  then  the 
gentry  and  people  in  their  course."  This  idol  is  said  to 
be  in  existence  at  the  present  day.  Nobu  nanga,  after  this 
public  adoration  of  his  statue,  returned  to  Miako.  Akitchi 
mitzu  hide  had  been  one  of  his  most  prominent  and  success- 
ful generals,  and  was  at  this  time  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  capital.  Nobu  nanga  had  dispatched  a  large  body  of 
troops  to  assist  Hashiba  Hideyoshi  in  his  operations  in  the 
west.  "Whether  Akitchi  aspired  to  the  position  occupied  by 
Nobu  nanga,  or  was  really  jealous  and  hated  him,  in  com- 
mon with  others,  as  a  tyrant,  or,  as  some  relate,  smarted 
under  the  insult  of  being  struck  by  Nobu  nanga  over  the 
head  with  a  fan,  is  doubtful.  But  "when  he  saw  that  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE  EMPIRE.  123 

guards  and  forces  under  the  immediate  command  of  Nobu 
nanga  were  so  diminished  in  number  that  he  was  left  nearly 
unprotected,  he  took  advantage  of  what  seemed  to  him  an 
opportunity.  He  had  been  ordered  by  Nobu  nanga  to  take 
a  large  body  of  troops  under  his  command  to  join  Hideyoshi. 
Accordingly,  he  marched,  but  instead  of  taking  the  route  in- 
dicated, he  took  aside  some  of  the  captains  whom  he  knew 
to  be  dissatisfied  with  the  government  and  discussed  to  them 
his  design,  and  gained  them  over  by  declaiming  against  the 
violence,  oppression,  and  tyranny  of  Nobu  nanga,  accusing 
him  of  destroying  the  gods  and  murdering  the  priests,  and 
concluding  by  promises  of  wealth  stored  up  in  the  castle  of 
Adzutchi  yama.  He  then  suddenly  wheeled  round  upon  Mi- 
ako,  surrounding  Honnoji,  where  Nobu  nanga  was  residing, 
before  he  was  aware  of  any  danger.  All  the  avenues  were 
closed — no  escape  was  left  for  him.  He  was  washing  his 
face  when  the  news  came  that  the  troops  had  invested  the 
place,  and  opening  a  window  to  see  what  was  the  matter, 
they  poured  in  a  shower  of  darts  and  wounded  him  between 
the  shoulders.  The  place  was  soon  in  flames,  and  his  body 
was  consumed  with  the  building.  Thus  died  Nobu  nanga, 
at  forty-nine  years  of  age,  a  little  after  he  took  upon  him- 
self the  title  of  god,  and  had  made  himself  be  adored  by  his 
subjects." 

Nobu  nanga  was  by  birth  of  higher  origin  than  his  suc- 
cessor, Taikosama,  and,  as  the  son  of  a  feudal  prince,  had, 
at  a  time  when  might  gave  right,  some  pretension  to  rule. 
Descended  from  Kio  mori,  he  was  of  the  Taira  family,  that 
clan  which  had  contested  so  long  with  the  Minnamoto  for 
the  executive  power  in  the  empire.  No  question  of  family 
origin  entered  into  his  rise  or  brought  about  his  fall.  As 
an  individual,  he  rose  to  power  through  his  military  talents; 
and  probably  from  want  of  administrative  ability  failed  to 
strengthen  himself,  or  insure  the  succession  of  the  position 
to  which  he  had  risen  to  his  sons.  The  period  of  his  rule 
was  signalized  by  the  rise  and  success  of  the  Jesuits,  whom 
he  countenanced,  according  to  their  own  showing,  rather 


124  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

from  hatred  to  the  Buddhist  priests  than  from  love  for  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  or  respect  for  the  Roman  Catholic 
priesthood.  When  he  died,  the  tide  of  prosperity  turned 
and  ebbed  till  it  gradually  swept  the  whole  doctrines,  priests, 
and  proselytes  from  the  shores  of  Japan. 

Akitchi  mitsu  hide,  who  had  thus  removed  the  master- 
spirit of  Japan,  was  not  the  man  to  take  the  vacant  seat. 
Apparently  an  able  second,  a  successful  lieutenant,  he  was 
wanting  in  every  quality  for  command.  He  had  gained  over 
the  troops  placed  in  his  charge  by  the  promise  of  plunder. 
He  marched  them  upon  the  city  of  Azutchi  yama,  where 
Nobu  nanga  had  stored  up  the  treasures  he  had  accumulated 
during  many  years,  and  in  three  days  squandered  the  whole 
in  largesses  to  those  under  his  command. 


CHAPTER  IV 

GOVERNMENT    OF    TAIKOSAMA 

BY  the  sudden  and  unexpected  removal  of  the  keystone 
of  the  arch,  there  was  left  a  blank  to  be  filled  up.  It  may 
be  said  that  on  either  side  was  a  stone  ready  for  the  purpose. 
On  the  one  side,  Hideyoshi,  in  command  of  a  powerful  army, 
and  he  himself  with  a  great  reputation  as  a  leader,  and  en- 
gaged, on  the  part  of  Nobu  nanga,  in  a  war  with  Mori,  prince 
of  the  ten  western  provinces ;  on  the  other,  lyeyas,  firmly 
seated  as  ruler  over  eight  provinces,  and  hardly  acknowledg- 
ing any  submission  to  the  executive  at  Miako,  also  in  com- 
mand of  an  army  and  fighting  on  the  side  of  Nobu  nanga 
against  Hojo,  lord  of  Odawarra.  Had  the  succession  been 
left  to  the  son  or  sons  of  Nobu  nanga,  there  was  every  pros- 
pect of  a  continuance  of  the  same  state  of  anarchy  and  war. 
No  one  of  the  three  was  competent  for  the  post.  The  eldest, 
indeed,  had  perished  with  his  father,  leaving  a  son,  a  child, 


GOVERNMENT   OF    TAIKOSAMA.  125 

San  hoshi.  The  third,  Nobu  taka,  was  lord  of  the  island  of 
Sikok  and  its  four  provinces.  Nobu  wo,  lord  of  Owarri,  the 
second  son,  took  part  with  Hideyoshi. 

lyeyas  Mikawa  no  karni  seems,  during  his  career,  to  have 
occupied  a  position  apart  in  the  empire.  This  is  attributed 
by  his  countrymen  to  a  recognition  by  Nobu  nanga  and 
Hideyoshi  of  his  great  talents  as  a  general  in  command 
during  war,  they  being  always  either  jealous  or  afraid  of 
him-  He  had  been  nearly  uniformly  successful  in  war,  even 
when  fighting  against  great  odds.  They  had  put  him  into 
dangerous  positions  hi  the  hope  of  getting  rid  of  him,  but 
he  had  always  come  out  of  them  with  additional  credit  and 
invariable  success.  He  was  ready  to  obey  and  equal  to  com- 
mand. Unwilling  to  thrust  himself  forward,  he  could  bide 
his  time,  and  was  prepared  for  any  emergency.  He  was 
born  of  a  good  family,  but  had  cut  out  for  himself  a  posi- 
tion ;  and,  in  the  general  scramble  for  landed  possessions  at 
this  period,  had  laid  a  solid  foundation  in  the  province  of 
Suruga  and  Mikawa  and  some  portions  of  other  provinces. 
He  had  already  been  advanced  to  high  rank  by  the  Emperor. 
He  resided  at  Hamamatz,  in  Towotomi,  where  he  held  over 
the  Kwanto  supreme  sway,  with  which  Taikosama  did  not 
think  it  wise  to  interfere. 

Hideyoshi,  as  has  been  related,  was  of  low  origin,  and 
his  birth  and  lineage  a  matter  of  obscurity ;  but  in  such  esti- 
mation is  some  sorts  of  pedigree  held  in  Japan  (as  in  other 
places)  that  he  contrived  to  make  it  appear  that  his  mother 
was  pregnant  with  him  before  she  married  his  reputed  father, 
Kinoshta  mago  yaymong.  According  to  his  own  accounts, 
his  mother  was  daughter  of  Motchihagee,  a  Koongay,  and 
during  the  troubles  she  was  obliged  to  fly,  and,  falling  into 
great  distress,  married  Kinoshta.  She  married  a  second 
husband,  Tchikoo  ami.  Before  her  second  marriage,  she 
one  night  dreamed  that  she  had  conceived  by  the  sun,  and 
thence  her  child  was  called  Hi  yoshi  maro.  He  was  com- 
monly called  Ko  chikoo  (small  boy).  His  face  was  small, 
and  he  was  like  a  monkey,  whence  he  got  the  nickname  of 


126  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

Sam  matz;  and,  even  long  afterward,  when  he  was  Kwan- 
bakku, he  was  called  Sam  Kwanja,  or  monkey  with  a  crown. 
"When  a  child,  he  was  very  cunning  and  reckless,  and  lived 
on  the  streets.  A  story  is  told  of  him  lying  asleep  on  a  bridge 
in  Okasaka.  Among  others  who  passed  was  Hiko  yay  mong, 
a  noted  robber  from  Owarri.  He  gave  the  boy  a  kick,  and 
asked  him  his  name.  He  said,  "Sarumatz.  This  is  the 
public  road,  and  is  as  much  mine  as  yours.  Who  are  you?" 
He  said,  "I  am  Hiko  yay  mong."  "Well,"  says  the  boy, 
"Hiko  is  a  thief  and  a  robber,  and  I  have  as  good  a  right  to 
be  here  as  he."  He  long  afterward  made  Hiko  a  Daimio — 
the  family  as  Hatchiska  existing  to  the  present  time.  He 
went,  when  ten  years  of  age,  to  Hama  matz,  where  his  mas- 
ter, observing  the  talent  in  the  boy,  recommended  him  to 
turn  a  soldier.  He  afterward  entered  the  service  of  Nobu 
nanga,  and  called  himself  Kinoshta  Tokitchiro.  When  he 
rose  in  military  rank,  he  took  the  name  of  Hashiba  Hide- 
yoshi  Tchikuzen  no  kami.  In  1583,  upon  the  death  of  Nobu 
nanga,  he  rose  rapidly  in  imperial  rank  from  lieutenant-gen- 
eral to  be  Naidaijin  and  Kwanbakku.  As  it  was  unheard-of 
presumption  in  any  one  not  of  the  Fusiwarra  family  being 
Kwanbakku,  he  asked,  extorted,  or  adopted  this  family  name 
from  the  Emperor.  But  he  seems  never  to  have  used  it,  and 
is  known  by  that  of  Toyo  tomi,  given  him  by  the  Emperor. 
In  no  long  time  after,  he  rose  to  be  Dai  jo  dai  jin.  He  was 
Kwanbakku  during  seven  years,  when  he  retired  under  the 
usual  title  of  Taiko,  given  to  that  officer  on  retiring,  and  was 
known  by  the  name  of  Taiko  sama,  or  the  Taikosama.  After 
the  destruction  of  Azutchi,  the  city  of  Nobu  nanga,  Hideyoshi 
fixed  upon  Fusimi  and  Osaka  as  his  places  of  residence,  tak- 
ing possession  of  the  castle  of  Osaka,  which  commands  the 
town,  adding  to  its  strength  by  immense  fortifications,  and 
building  in  the  center  a  palace  of  great  magnificence.  This 
castle  had  formerly  belonged  to  one  of  the  powerful  Buddhist 
sects,  and  had  been  wrested  from  them  by  Nobu  nanga.  By 
command  of  Taikosama,  immense  canals  were  dug,  and,  by 
artificial  means,  smaller  rivers  were  led  into  that  flowing 


GOVERNMENT    OF   TAIKOSAMA.  137 

past  Osaka,  by  which  the  importance  of  the  town  as  a  com- 
mercial capital,  as  well  as  its  strength  as  a  fort,  was  mate- 
rially increased.  In  Miako  he  built  another  magnificent 
palace,  known  as  Jui  raku;  and  had  another  at  Fusimi, 
between  Miako  and  Osaka.  He  had  married,  during  his 
youth,  a  woman  of  his  own  rank.  He  afterward  married 
the  daughter  of  Fusi  yee;  and,  thirdly,  the  daughter  of 
Gamo  Hida  no  kami.  His  fourth  wife  was  the  daughter 
of  Kio  goku;  and  the  fifth,  the  daughter  of  Mayedda  of 
Kanga;  and,  lastly,  Yodo  hime  dono,  daughter  of  Azai 
Bizen  no  kami,  of  whom  the  Jesuit  letters  speak  as  Kita 
Mandocoro  "quae  est  primaria  Taici  conjunx  carissima  erat 
et  conjunctissima. "  But  notwithstanding  this  plurality  of 
wives,  it  was  never  pretended  that  he  had  a  son  till  his  old 
age.  He  had  a  stepbrother,  Hide  nanga,  and  a  stepsister, 
who  married  Musasi  no  kami,  and  had  two  sons,  Hide- 
tsoongu  (who  was  adopted  by  Hideyoshi)  and  Gifoo  sho 
sho.  Another  stepsister  had  a  son,  Hide  toshi,  who  was 
adopted  by  Hidenanga.  Hidetsoongu  (nephew  of  Taiko  by 
his  stepsister),  who  was  afterward  Kwanbakku,  was  first 
adopted  by  Miyoshi  Yamashiro  no  kami,  and  afterward  by 
Taikosama.  Taikosama  also  adopted  HideyuM  kingo,  son 
of  Kinoshta,  the  brother  of  his  wife. 

The  following  account  of  Taikosama  is  taken  from  the 
letters  of  the  Jesuits:  "This  man  (Faxiba,  or  Hashiba),  who 
was  most  certainly  immoderately  ambitious,  seeing  his  mas- 
ter dead,  and  with  him  his  eldest  son,  who  had  left  only  one 
child  not  full  three  years  old ;  moreover,  finding  the  second 
son  to  be  but  a  weak  man,  and  the  third  destitute  both  of 
fortune  and  strength  to  make  head  against  him,  he  believed 
it  would  be  easy  to  content  him  by  a  donation  of  some  gov- 
ernment, and  so  the  way  was  fairly  open  for  himself  to  step 
into  the  throne.  To  carry  on  his  design,  he  first  sounded  all 
the  officers  of  his  army,  and  finding  them  tight  to  his  inter- 
est, for  a  color  of  his  ambition  he  took  upon  him  the  title  of 
tutor  and  governor  to  the  young  prince  and  heir  to  the  em- 
pire, and  put  him  into  a  fortress  witk  a  train  answerable  to 


128  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

his  birth.  Nobu  nanga's  third  son  soon  smelled  out  his  de- 
sign, and  not  able  to  brook  one  of  his  father's  subjects  in  the 
government  of  his  kingdoms,  he  leagued  with  several  of  the 
lords  who  were  grown  jealous  of  Faxiba's  power,  and  re- 
solved to  make  it  a  trial  of  skill ;  but  Faxiba,  who  was  an 
old  experienced  captain,  and  had  good  troops  under  him, 
easily  defeated  them,  and  put  all  to  death  that  durst  oppose 
his  designs."  This  is  hardly  correct,  inasmuch  as,  though 
he  marched  into  the  province  of  Mino  in  pursuit  of  Nobu 
taka,  third  son  of  Nobu  nanga,  and  defeated  him,  he  was 
not  so  successful  in  his  action  against  Nobu  wo,  the  second 
son,  in  the  year  1584.  This  latter,  without  much  talent,  had 
wit  enough  to  ask  lyeyas  to  assist  him.  He  came  to  his  as- 
sistance, and  in  the  battles  of  Komaki  and  Nangakute,  with 
greatly  inferior  forces  numerically,  defeated,  first,  Hide- 
tsoongu,  Taikosama's  nephew,  and  afterward  Taikosama 
himself.  Taiko  thought  it  more  prudent  to  make  a  com- 
pact, and  having  done  so,  retired  to  Miako,  which  lyeyas 
permitted  him  to  do  without  further  action. 

"Among  the  confederates  of  Nobutaka  was  one  Shibata 
dono,  brother-in-law  to  Nobu  nanga.  He  was  besieged  in 
the  fortress  of  Shibatta,  and  seeing  no  way  of  escape,  he, 
having  dined  with  his  friends,  wife,  and  children,  and  re- 
tainers, set  fire  to  the  castle,  first  killing  his  wife,  his  chil- 
dren, and  the  female  servants;  and  his  friends,  following 
his  example,  afterward  committed  suicide,  'and  lay  there 
wallowing  in  their  blood  till  the  fire  kindled  and  burned 
them  to  ashes.'  "  Some  of  the  arms  and  clothes  which  were 
found  unburned  are  said  to  be  all  kept  to  the  present  day  as 
they  were  found  after  this  catastrope. 

"Faxiba,  being  now  in  peaceable  possession  of  the  Tense 
(or  imperial  provinces),  and  all  Nobu  nanga's  other  king- 
doms, to  give  color  to  his  usurpation,  affected  an  affable 
sweetness,  which  charmed  all  that  ever  saw  or  heard  him. 
None,  besides  the  Christians,  could  in  the  least  suspect  the 
sincerity  of  his  intentions;  and  not  long  after  they,  too, 
were  quieted  of  all  their  fears ;  for,  knowing  very  well  how 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  129 

respectful  they  had  been  to  Nobu  nanga,  either  out  of  real 
affection,  or  for  that  he  had  no  mind  to  make  himself  new 
enemies,  he  began  to  caress  them,  and  gave  them  several 
particular  instances  of  his  favor.  He  knew  the  Christians 
in  his  service  to  be  famous,  both  for  their  piety  and  their 
courage;  and,  above  all,  he  showed  a  particular  respect  for 
Justo  Ucondono  (properly  called  Takayama  oo  konyay  no 
kami),  to  whom  he  had  been  indebted  for  his  good  fortune. 

"So  when  the  fathers  went  to  visit  him,  he  treated  them 
after  the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  ceremony  as  Nobu 
nanga  had  done  before  him;  and  for  instance  of  his  real  in- 
tentions, he  appointed  them  a  place  for  building  a  church 
and  seminary  (in  Osaka),  as  was  done  before  in  Anzuqui- 
ama.  The  Queen,  his  lady,  had  also  several  of  the  Chris- 
tians among  her  maids  of  honor,  whom  Faxiba  particularly 
respected  for  their  singular  modesty  and  piety.  He  per- 
mitted them  to  assist  at  mass  and  sermons,  and  was  pleased 
to  show  a  liking  when  any  of  his  subjects  became  Christians, 
which  emboldened  them  to  preach  and  exercise  their  other 
functions  with  greater  liberty  than  formerly,  to  the  great 
increase  of  the  faithful.  Faxiba,  who  was  advertised  of  it, 
far  from  being  displeased,  declared  he  would  embrace  the 
Christian  religion  himself  were  it  but  a  little  more  indulgent 
to  flesh  and  blood." 

Taikosama  was  feeling  his  way  in  the  novel  position  in 
which  he  found  himself  after  Nobu  nanga's  death.  The 
Jesuits  did  not  know  how  their  position  might  be  affected. 
They  had  basked  in  the  sunshine  of  court  favor  for  some 
years  past ;  that  might  now  be  clouded  over.  The  bozangs, 
or  native  Buddhist  priesthood,  had  been  standing  in  the  cold 
shade  for  some  years ;  they  had  everything  to  hope  for  in  a 
change.  There  was  not  much  to  be  feared  from  Sanhoshi, 
the  infant  grandson  of  Nobu  nanga,  as  a  claimant  to  the 
throne.  Mowori  in  the  west  was  quiet.  Tyeyas  in  the  east 
was  occupied  in  attacking  Hojio  of  Odawarra,  who  was  sup- 
posed to  be  in  opposition  to  the  government.  Hojio  was  su- 
perior in  the  number  of  his  forces,  but  inferior  in  the  ability 


130  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

of  his  commanders.  The  proverbial  saying  of  an  "Odawarra 
Hio  jio' ' — that  is,  an  Odawarra  deliberation — took  its  origin 
in  the  councils  of  war  of  Hojio  at  this  time,  which,  with  su- 
perior forces,  were  protracted  till  lyeyas  attacked,  defeated 
him,  and  took  the  Castle  of  Odawarra. 

In  the  year  1583  the  Jesuit  fathers  prevailed  upon  the 
Christian  converts  Arima  and  Omura  and  Owotomo  Boongo 
no  kanii  to  send  some  young  lords  on  a  visit  to  the  Pope. 
Four  were  sent,  two  of  them  being  relatives  of  these  lords, 
and  the  other  two  sons  of  nobles.  They  were  all  four  boys 
of  the  age  of  from  fifteen  to  sixteen.  They  took  letters  with 
them  to  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  Leaving  Japan  on  February 
22,  1583,  they,  going  by  Macao  and  Goa,  reached  Lisbon 
on  August  10,  1584,  and  after  an  interview  with  Philip  at 
Madrid,  arrived  in  Rome  on  March  20,  1585,  where  they 
were  received  by  the  Pope,  and  kissed  his  feet.  They  re- 
embarked  at  Lisbon  the  last  day  of  April,  1586,  with  seven- 
teen religious  of  the  Society,  reaching  Goa  on  May  29,  1587, 
and  finally  arrived  in  Japan  in  1590,  "eight  years  from  their 
first  setting  out,"  bringing  with  them  an  Arabian  horse, 
which  had  been  presented  to  them  by  the  Viceroy  of  India. 

In  1583  Taikosama  finished  the  fortress  of  Osaka,  a  work 
which  consumed  a  great  deal  of  money  and  occupied  a  great 
number  of  men,  and  which,  when  finished,  covered  a  much 
larger  space  of  ground  than  that  upon  which  the  castle  now 
stands.  During  this  year  the  island  of  Kiusiu  was  the  thea- 
ter of  war.  Riozoji  held  an  office,  now  done  away  with,  as 
governor  of  the  island.  He  had  formerly  been  a  vassal  of 
the  small  lordship  of  Arima,  but  now  had  large  landed  pos- 
sessions in  the  island :  and  being  too  desirous  of  extending 
his  own  territory  at  his  neighbors'  expense,  they  joined  to- 
gether and  rooted  him  out. 

In  1585  Taikosama  received  from  the  Emperor  the  fam- 
ily name  of  Toyotomi.  He  called  himself  Fusiwara,  and 
insisted  on  the  Emperor  appointing  him  Kwanbakku.  He 
had  now  had  sufficient  time  to  feel  himself  settled  in  his 
position ;  but  he  thought  the  native  monasteries  were  still 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  131 

too  powerful,  notwithstanding  the  demolition  of  Hiyayzan, 
the  large  monastery  near  Miako,  and  the  slaughter  of  great 
numbers  of  priests  by  Nobu  nanga,  together  with  the  appro- 
priation as  a  castle  of  the  large  monastery  in  Osaka.  The 
sect  of  Negoros  [Negroes  in  the  Church  of  Japan]  at  Ku- 
mano,  in  the  province  of  Kii,  occupied  a  very  large  monas- 
tery, to  which  the  whole  of  the  province  belonged  in  terri- 
torial right,  the  military  retainers  of  the  monastery  being 
noted  for  prowess  and  skill  in  fighting.  Taikosama  having 
found  or  made  some  cause  of  quarrel  moved  against  them, 
defeated  them,  and  destroyed  the  monastery.  Most  of  these 
retainers  were  removed  to  Yedo,  where  to  this  day  they  form 
part  of  the  guard  of  the  Shiogoon. 

This  year  Taikosama  sent  Nbbuwo  to  order  lyeyas  to 
come  to  Miako.  He  refused  to  come  until  it  was  arranged 
that  Taikosama's  mother  should  come  to  Yedo  as  a  hostage 
during  his  absence,  when  lyeyas  went  to  pay  his  respects  to 
the  Emperor.  Mowori,  lord  of  the  western  provinces,  was 
also  ordered  to  come  to  Miako  to  acknowledge  Taikosama 
as  his  superior,  an  order  which  he  found  it  prudent  to  obey. 
In  1586  lyeyas  married  the  youngest  sister  of  Taikosama. 

A  persecuting  spirit  showed  itself  among  the  Jesuits 
very  soon  after  the  departure  of  Francis  Xavier.  "Sumi- 
tanda,"  they  write,  "King  of  Omura,  who  had  become  a 
Christian  in  accordance  with  a  promise  to  that  purpose  in 
case  his  wife  should  have  a  child,  about  the  year  1562,  or 
only  thirteen  years  after  the  first  arrival  of  a  missionary  in 
the  country,  declared  open  war  against  the  devils.  He  dis- 
patched some  squadrons  through  his  kingdom  to  ruin  all  the 
idols  and  temples,  without  any  regard  to  the  bonzes'  rage." 
All  this,  doubtless,  was  done  by  the  advice  and  at  the  insti- 
gation of  his  instructors;  and  "in  1577  the  lord  of  the  island 
of  Amacusa  issued  his  proclamation,  by  which  all  his  sub- 
jects— whether  bonzes,  gentlemen,  merchants  or  tradesmen 
— were  required  either  to  turn  Christians  or  to  leave  the 
country  the  very  next  day.  They  almost  all  submitted,  and 
received  baptism,  so  that  in  a  short  time  there  were  more 


132  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

than  twenty  churches  in  the  kingdom.  God  wrought  mira- 
cles to  confirm  the  faithful  in  their  belief." 

All  this  time  one  of  the  most  zealous  as  well  as  influential 
among  the  Christian  converts  was  he  who  was  known  as 
Justo  Ucondono,  or  Takayama  oo  konyay  no  kami.  His  seat 
was  Takaski,  in  the  province  of  Setsu,  where  "he  labored 
with  a  zeal  truly  apostolical  to  extirpate  the  idolaters  out  of 
his  states,  where  the  number  was  now  fallen  to  30,000.  He 
sent  word  that  they  should  either  receive  the  faith  or  be  gone 
immediately  out  of  his  country,  for  he  would  acknowledge 
none  for  his  subjects  but  such  as  adored  the  true  God. 
This  declaration  obliged  them  all  to  accept  of  instruction, 
which  cut  out  work  enough  for  all  the  fathers  and  mission- 
aries at  Meaco."  Taikosama  still  continued  his  wonted 
favors  to  the  Christians,  "saying  one  day,  in  a  familiar 
way,  that  he  would  willingly  become  a  Christian  himself  if 
they  could  dispense  with  him  in  polygamy."  In  this  way 
the  Roman  Catholics  set  the  example  of  intolerance,  driving 
those  opposed  to  them  in  religious  belief  out  of  the  country. 
True  disciples,  and  breathing  the  spirit  of  the  Inquisition, 
then  in  full  blow  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  they  would  not 
allow  within  their  own  states  that  freedom  under  which  the 
tree  planted  by  them  had  taken  root  and  was  flourishing. 

Takayama  brought  over  as  a  convert,  among  others,  the 
young  admiral  of  Taikosama's  fleet — Don  Austin,  as  he  is 
known  to  the  Jesuits;  Konishi,  Setsu  no  kami,  Yuki  Naga, 
as  his  title  is  in  native  history.  He  and  his  father  and 
mother  were  baptized  in  1584. 

Taikosama,  wishing  to  keep  Takaski,  gave  Takayama  in 
its  stead  another  estate,  Akashi,  in  Harima;  and  as  "soon 
as  Justo  had  taken  possession  of  it,  his  first  thoughts  were 
to  reduce  it  under  the  obedience  of  Christ.  The  bonzes, 
smelling  his  design,  with  their  idols  went  to  cast  them- 
selves at  the  Queen's  feet.  The  Queen,  touched  with  an 
ardent  zeal  for  her  religion,  spoke  to  the  King  in  their  be- 
half. But  Faxiba,  who  was  no  bigot,  answered  her  briskly, 
that  he  had  absolutely  given  Justo  that  place  in  change  of 


GOVERNMENT   OF    TAIKOSAMA.  133 

Tacacuqui ;  and  for  the  rest,  every  one  was  free  to  dispose 
of  his  own.  Let  the  bonzes,  if  the  idols  be  troublesome, 
drown  them  in  the  sea,  or  dry  them  for  fuel.  Don  Justo, 
much  pleased  with  Faxiba's  answer,  took  then  a  resolution 
to  oblige  all  his  subjects  to  become  Christians,"  and  thus 
first  taught  them  a  lesson  which  they  afterward  practiced 
upon  himself.  Justo  had  the  merit,  in  his  religious  zeal,  of 
being  unconnected  with  any  seaport  town.  All  the  other 
lords  who  had  been  brought  over  to  the  Roman  Church  were 
competing  more  or  less  for  foreign  trade — Boongo,  Arima, 
Omura,  Firando,  Gotto ;  and  though  some  of  them  seem  to 
have  been  sincere  converts,  others  wavered  with  the  rise 
and  fall  of  exports  and  imports.  Such,  for  example,  may 
the  King  of  Boongo  be  called,  when  he  returned  the  follow- 
ing answer  to  the  bozangs:  "These  good  fathers  have  been 
thirteen  or  fourteen  years  in  my  kingdom.  At  their  arrival 
I  had  only  three  kingdoms;  they  are  now  swelled  to  five. 
My  treasury  was  exhausted ;  it  now  exceeds  any  other  prince 
in  all  Japan.  I  had  no  male  issue  to  succeed  me,  but  now 
Heaven  has  blessed  me  with  heirs.  Everything  has  suc- 
ceeded and  prospered  since  they  came  among  us.  What 
blessing  did  I  ever  receive  from  your  gods  since  I  began  to 
serve  them?  Begone!  and  never  speak  ill  of  those  I  love 
and  respect."  This  Boongo  no  kami  on  one  occasion  dur- 
ing war  destroyed  a  most  prodigious  and  magnificent  temple 
with  a  colossal  statue,  burning  3,000  monasteries  to  ashes. 
"This  ardent  zeal  of  the  prince  is  an  evident  instance  of  his 
faith  and  charity,"  says  the  Jesuit  writer. 

This  year,  upon  the  occasion  of  the  arrival  of  the  Father 
Provincial  of  Japan  at  Osaka,  Justo  and  Austin  demanded 
an  audience  for  him  with  Taikosama.  "To  make  the  way 
more  easy,  he  exposed,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  coun- 
try, his  presents  for  the  King  and  Queen.  He  was  intro- 
duced (his  majesty  accepting  the  presents)  to  Taikosama 
jeated  on  a  magnificent  throne,  and  was  received  by  him 
with  the  most  marked  kindness  and  condescension.  He 
commended  them  for  taking  so  long  a  voyage  to  publish 


134  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

in  those  parts  the  law  of  their  God.  He  gave  them  sup- 
per. After  the  collation  he  entertained  them  with  a  long 
discourse  about  his  government,  told  them  he  intended  to 
make  one-half  of  Japan  embrace  the  Christian  religion,  and 
that  he  had  thoughts  of  passing  into  China,  not  to  pillage 
and  plunder  the  country,  but  to  reduce  it  under  the  sweet 
yoke  of  his  obedience.  To  this  end  he  intended  to  put  to  sea 
with  a  fleet  of  200  men-of-war.  Moreover  (and  this  is  the 
gist  of  the  conversation),  he  desired  to  hire  upon  any  terms 
two  stout  ships  of  Portugal,  well  armed  and  manned,  and 
by  means  of  the  fathers  made  himself  sure  of  gaining  this 
point.  After  the  conquest  of  China,  he  would  build  temples 
to  the  true  God  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  through  his  em- 
pire, and  withal  oblige  his  subjects  universally  by  public 
edict  to  become  Christians. 

"He  afterward  conducted  them  through  his  palace  to 
the  ninth  story  of  a  pyramidal  building,  whence  they  had 
a  beautiful  view  of  the  country  around  Osaka.  He  then 
alluded  to  the  famous  discussion  between  F.  Froes  and  the 
Buddhist  high-priest,  saying  that  at  the  time  he  was  so  in- 
censed at  the  brute,  the  insolent  bozang,  that  if  he  had  been 
in  power  he  would  have  taken  off  his  head. ' ' 

At  this  meeting  the  Provincial  put  in  a  petition  to  Taiko- 
sama,  which  he  is  said  by  the  Jesuits  to  have  granted;  viz., 
"That  it  should  be  lawful  for  them  to  preach  the  law  of  the 
true  God  through  all  his  states,  and  his  subjects  free  to  em- 
brace it.  That  their  houses  should  be  exempt  from  lodging 
soldiers.  That,  as  strangers,  they  should  be  exempt  from 
all  cesses  and  taxes  which  the  lords  do  usually  lay  upon  their 
vassals.  And  he  added  to  that,  that  he  gave  them  license 
to  preach,  not  only  in  his  kingdoms,  but  through  all  Japan, 
as  lords  and  sovereigns  of  the  whole  empire." 

Such  being  the  inclinations  and  views  of  Taikosama  tow- 
ard the  Jesuits  in  the  outset  of  his  reign,  by  what  means,  it 
may  be  asked,  was  he  brought  to  a  change?  The  statements 
of  the  Jesuits  are  the  sole  authority  for  this  part  of  history ; 
but  they  seem  to  have  played  their  cards  badly. 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  135 

"Religion  in  Japan  within  this  thirty-eight  years  past, 
when  St.  Francis  Xaverius  sowed  the  first  seeds  in  that  un- 
cultivated soil,  has  now  grown  so  fair  and  nourishing  that 
one  might  well  compare  it  to  an  orange  tree  loaded  on  all 
sides  with  fruits  and  blossoms.  It  was  a  field  cultivated  by 
the  workmen  of  the  vineyard,  and  watered  with  kindly 
showers  from  heaven,  which  gave  fair  hope  of  a  rich  and 
plentiful  harvest.  It  was  a  ship  under  full  sail  drove  by 
the  wind  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  discovering  daily  new  places 
and  countries. 

"In  the  year  1587  they  reckoned  above  200, 000  Christians 
in  Japan,  among  whom  were  several  persons  of  distinguished 
merit — kings,  princes,  generals  of  armies,  principal  lords  of 
the  court,  and,  in  a  word,  the  flower  of  the  Japonian  nobil- 
ity. Moreover,  what  by  Cambacundono's  [Taikosama's] 
esteem  of  our  religion,  and  kindness  to  the  missioners  that 
preached  it,  and  what  by  his  contempt  of  the  bonzes,  whom 
he  persecuted  with  fire  and  sword,  burning  their  temples  and 
pulling  down  their  idols  wherever  he  came — what,  also,  by 
vesting  the  Christian  lords  in  the  most  considerable  places 
of  the  government,  and  indulging  liberty  to  all  his  court 
to  receive  baptism,  over  and  above,  by  erecting  so  many 
churches  to  the  true  God,  and  so  particularly  countenanc- 
ing the  fathers  of  the  Society — the  number  of  them  daily 
increased.  For,  not  content  with  sending  frequently  for  the 
fathers  to  his  palace,  he  went  one  day  himself  to  visit  the 
Provincial  on  board  of  his  ship,  and  discoursed  him  after  a 
familiar  way  for  several  hours  together.  Not  that  he  had 
any  thoughts  of  religion,  for  he  was  so  proud  that  he  pre- 
tended equality  with  Divinity  itself,  but  by  this  had  a  mind 
to  gain  a  reputation  among  the  princes  of  Europe. 

"Nevertheless,  these  fair  appearances  put  several  of  the 
principal  lords  in  a  humor  of  being  instructed,  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  proselytes  was  so  great  that  the  fathers  could  not 
rest  neither  day  nor  night.  They  were  taken  up  continually 
with  preaching,  baptizing,  and  instructing  such  as  earnestly 
desired  this  sacrament,  among  whom  was  Cambacundono's 


136  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

own  nephew,  a  prince  about  nineteen  years  of  age,  presump- 
tive heir  to  the  crown. 

"While  the  Church  was  in  this  profound  peace,  the  devil, 
foreseeing  an  entire  conversion  of  the  whole  empire  must  fol- 
low, raised  such  a  furious  tempest  as  drove  the  ship  of  the 
Japonian  Church  upon  the  rocks,  and  split  it  all  to  pieces." 
So  writes  one  of  the  Jesuit  fathers.  He  then  looks  about  to 
find  a  reason  for  the  foundering  of  the  vessel,  and  finds  it 
anywhere  but  in  the  pilots  or  officers  of  the  ship.  The  un- 
lucky merchants,  whether  the  failure  be  ecclesiastical  or 
political,  are  sure  to  be  made  the  first  scapegoats.  Their 
lives  were  so  dissolute  that  the  immaculate  Taikosama  was 
horrified.  This  not  being  completely  satisfactory,  it  was 
further  found  that  "the  scandal  was  so  great  that  Camba- 
cundono,  who  had  notice  of  it,  began  to  conceive  an  ill 
opinion  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  concluded  the  fathers 
only  used  it  for  a  sconce  to  some  underhand  intrigue  of  re- 
ducing the  empire  of  Japan  under  the  obedience  of  some 
Christian  prince."  After  these  two  preliminary  reasons, 
the  father  goes  on  to  assign  other  causes.  "The  first  was 
his  pride,  which  rendered  him  extremely  sensible  of  the  least 
contradiction."  At  his  interview  with  the  Provincial  at 
Osaka,  above  narrated,  his  object  was  to  obtain  some  large 
foreign  vessels  to  transport  troops  to  China.  Hearing  that 
one  had  "arrived  at  Firando,  he  requested  it  might  be  sent 
round  to  Facata,  in  Boongo,  that  he  might  see  it.  The  cap- 
tain said  it  was  impossible,  owing  to  the  draught  of  water 
of  the  vessel.  Taikosama  seemed  satisfied,  but  the  same 
night  he  sent  orders  to  the  fathers  to  depart  from  Japan 
within  twenty  days,  and  forbade  them  to  preach  the  Gospel 
on  pain  of  death."  To  justify  himself,  he  gave  out  that  "he 
did  this  because  the  Christian  faith  was  contrary  to  the  re- 
ceived and  established  religion  of  Japan,  that  he  had  long 
since  designed  to  abolish  it,  and  only  deferred  the  execution 
till  he  had  conquered  Ximo  [Kiusiu],  where  the  Christians, 
being  so  numerous,  might  have  formed  a  party  against  him. 

"Besides,"  says  the  father,  "the  main  refusal,  we  discov- 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKO8AMA.  137 

ered  afterward  two  main  reasons  that  put  him  upon  this 
edict.  The  first  was  a  design  of  ranking  himself  among  the 
gods,  by  which  he  hoped  to  make  himself  be  adored  by  all 
his  subjects  as  one  of  the  chief  conquerors  of  Japan.  Now 
knowing  that  none  but  Christians  would  dare  to  oppose  him, 
he  took  a  resolution  of  exterminating  them  forthwith  before 
they  could  have  time  to  make  a  party  against  him. 

"The  other  cause  of  his  aversion  to  religion  was  his  own 
lewd  life  and  conversation.  Because  some  of  the  Christian 
ladies  of  Arima  had  rejected  the  proposal  made  by  a  bozang 
of  entering  his  service,  he  was  enraged  against  the  whole 
religion,  and  resolved  to  be  revenged  on  the  whole  body  of 
Christians."  This  bozang,  Jacunin  (or  Shiaku),  had  prob- 
ably been  a  resident  on  the  estate  of  Takayama,  or  Justo 
Ucondono,  at  Takaski,  or  at  Akashi,  and  had  smarted  under 
the  severity  of  the  treatment  by  Justo,  in  turning  out  of 
house  and  home  every  one  not  of  his  way  of  thinking.  This 
priest  is  said  to  have  directed  his  master's  wrath  against 
Takayama.  "All  the  forces  in  the  empire  being  in  his  power 
as  general,  and  he  the  greatest  bigot  of  the  sect,  it  was  well 
if,  under  the  mask  of  religion,  he  did  not  underhand  form 
a  league  against  the  state."  The  consequence  was,  that  a 
dispatch  was  immediately  forwarded  to  Takayama,  con- 
fiscating his  estate,  depriving  him  of  his  offices,  and  re- 
ducing him  at  once  to  beggary.  Takayama  on  the  occasion 
seems  to  have  displayed  great  magnanimity,  and  acted  from 
a  deep  Christian  feeling.  He  might  have  temporized  and 
dallied  till  the  wrath  of  Taikosama  had  cooled  down,  or  he 
might  have  committed  suicide,  as  a  native  noble  would  have 
done,  and  preserved  his  name  as  a  hero  and  his  estate  to  his 
son.  After  prayer,  the  whole  family — his  father  and  mother, 
men,  women,  children,  and  servants — immediately  put  them- 
selves on  their  way,  with  what  little  baggage  they  could 
carry.  They  found  a  retreat  in  the  territory  of  Setsu  no 
kami,  Don  Austin. 

At  this  time  Taikosama  issued  the  following  proclama- 
tion: "Being  informed  by  the  lords  of  our  Privy  Council 


138  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

that  certain  foreign  religious  were  entered  into  our  states, 
where  they  preach  a  law  contrary  to  the  established  religion 
of  Japan,  and  impudently  presume  to  ruin  the  temples  of  the 
Caniis  and  Fotoquis,  though  this  attempt  deserve  the  very 
utmost  severity,  yet  out  of  our  royal  clemency  we  do  only 
hereby  command  them  upon  pain  of  death  to  depart  from 
Japan  in  twenty  days,  during  which  time  it  shall  not  be 
lawful  for  any  one  to  hurt  them ;  but  if  afterward  any  of 
them  shall  be  found  in  our  states,  our  will  and  pleasure  is 
that  they  be  apprehended  and  punished  as  in  cases  of  high 
treason.  As  for  the  Portuguese  merchants,  we  give  them 
free  leave  to  traffic  and  reside  in  our  ports  till  further  order; 
but  withal  we  do  hereby  strictly  forbid  them,  on  pain  of 
having  both  their  ships  and  merchandises  confiscated,  to 
bring  over  with  them  any  foreign  religious." 

That  this  change  should  sooner  or  later  have  come  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at.  That  it  should  have  shown  itself  so  sud- 
denly, is  in  accordance  with  Japanese  ideas  of  policy,  and 
the  character  of  the  Japanese  mind.  The  empire  had  been 
for  years,  almost  ages,  torn  by  internal  divisions  among 
small  chiefs.  The  object  of  Nobu  nanga  had  been  to  bring 
them  all  into  one  under  himself.  His  lieutenant,  Taiko- 
sama,  totally  illiterate,  though  perhaps  not  more  so  than 
those  around  him,  had  been  imbued  with  his  master's 
views.  The  Buddhist  monasteries  had  been  hotbeds  of 
sedition  and  foci  of  disturbance,  being  at  the  same  time 
large  political  and  military  powers  of  perhaps  the  second 
rank,  and  they  had  made  themselves  obnoxious  on  different 
occasions  by  marked  insolence  to  the  generals,  and  even  to 
Nobu  nanga  himself.  They  had  not  even  the  justification 
of  having  preserved  (as  monasteries  did  of  old  in  Europe) 
the  literature  of  the  country,  not  one  priest  being  able  to 
read,  or  teach  the  rising  generation  the  rudiments  of  the 
written  character. 

When  the  Jesuits  appeared  with  meek  and  lowly  appear- 
ance, Nobu  nanga  was  charmed  with  the  prospect  of  estab- 
lishing them  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  haughty  and  insolent 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  139 

Buddhists.  He  nourished  them,  showering  favors  upon 
them,  and  in  every  way  encouraging  them,  more  especially 
borne,  as  they  were,  on  the  wings  of  wealth  and  trade. 
They  found  Japan,  so  far  as  religions  went,  a  free  coun- 
try, where  all  religious  were  tolerated  so  long  as  they  did 
not  become  aggressive.  But  they  did  not  come  from  a  free 
country.  Their  ideas  were  not  those  of  religious  tolerance. 
By  a  decree  of  Gregory  XIII.,  January  28,  1585,  all  priests 
and  religious  whatever  except  Jesuits  were  prohibited  from 
going  to  preach  hi  Japan.  This  was  confirmed  by  Clement 
VIII.,  March  14,  1597;  and  Philip  II.  of  Spain  wrote  soon 
after  to  his  viceroy  in  the  Indies  to  see  the  order  punctually 
obeyed.  This  monarch  was  wielding  the  power  as  King  of 
Portugal.  No  priest  could  come  to  Japan  without  his  sanc- 
tion. He  had  the  power  of  putting  his  veto  on  the  appoint- 
ments made  by  the  Pope.  The  fires  of  the  Inquisition  were 
blazing.  The  wish  of  the  Jesuits  was,  that  those  who  dif- 
fered from  them  in  religious  views  should  be  burned  as  her- 
etics, to  be  damned;  their  hope  was  that  they  themselves, 
holding  the  true  faith,  might  be  burned  as  martyrs,  to  be 
beatified,  Doubtless  the  archives  of  Simancas  could  unfold 
many  a  letter  breathing  such  thoughts  written  from  Japan, 
possibly  noted  by  Philip's  own  hand. 

They  had  hitherto  sailed  with  a  fair  wind.  It  may  be 
believed,  without  going  to  the  full  length  of  taking  every- 
thing in  their  letters  for  truth,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  accept- 
ing all  that  is  said  against  them  in  the  work  "La  Morale 
pratique  des  Jesuites,"  or  "L'Esprit  de  Mons.  S.  Arnauld," 
that  they  had  done  some  good.  Many  had  been  won  over 
from  a  state  of  brutishness  to  submission  in  their  daily  walk 
and  conversation  to  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel.  Some  had 
gone  through  severe  trials  and  persecutions,  and  had  stood 
firm  to  their  professions.  Each  of  the  lords  of  Boongo, 
Arima  and  Omura  had  suffered  more  or  less  for  the  faith 
they  professed.  Though  the  fathers  themselves  give  us  a 
weapon  to  attack  their  conversions  when  they  at  one  time 
assure  us  that  "to  win  the  favor  of  Taikosama  put  several 


HO  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

of  the  principal  lords  in  a  humor  of  being  instructed,  and 
the  number  of  proselytes  was  so  great  that  the  fathers  could 
not  rest  day  or  night  preaching,  instructing  and  baptizing 
such  as  earnestly  desired  this  sacrament"  (among  whom 
was  Cambacundono's  own  nephew,  Hidetsoongo),  it  might 
be  asked,  What  sort  of  converts  were  these?  and  how  could 
these  fathers  abuse  this  sacrament  in  baptizing  persons  to 
win  the  favor  of  such  a  master? 

But  these  fathers  appear  to  have  looked  upon  the  bozangs 
as  their  personal  enemies.  They  thought  that  it  was  their 
special  mission  to  root  them  out.  They  would  not  let  the 
tares  and  the  wheat,  as  they  looked  upon  the  respective  par- 
ties, grow  together.  They  attacked  these  priests  wherever 
they  met  them.  Francis  Xavier,  at  the  commencement  of 
his  missionary  life  in  Japan,  visited  these  "bonzes,  with  the 
design,  if  it  were  possible,  to  convert  them  to  Christ,  being 
persuaded  that  Christianity  would  make  little  progress 
among  the  people  if  they  who  were  generally  looked  upon 
as  oracles  of  truth  opposed  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel." 
He  declared  himself  much  astonished  that  in  Japan  the 
people  "have  a  profound  respect  for  the  bonzes;  for  though 
they  be  conscious  of  their  hyprocrisy  and  debaucheries,  yet 
at  the  same  time  they  worship  them  like  deities,  and  pay 
them  all  imaginable  submission." 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  a  missionary  should  be  to  learn 
thoroughly  the  religion  of  the  people  of  the  country  to  which 
he  is  sent.  An  acquaintance  with  Buddhism,  and  its  tenets 
and  principles,  would  have  been  a  very  powerful  weapon  to 
convince  or  to  condemn  these  priests,  without  trying  to  hold 
them  constantly  up  to  the  scorn  of  their  own  people  and  fol- 
lowers. From  the  commencement  of  the  Romish  missions 
a  continued  aggressive  action  appears  to  have  been  kept  up 
against  the  Buddhist  priesthood  as  individual  men.  The 
lives  and  the  morals,  or  the  want  of  morals,  of  these  men, 
seem  to  have  been  the  constant  theme  of  the  Jesuit  ad- 
dresses to  the  people. 

It  cannot  be  wondered  at  that  a  body  which  was  politi- 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TA1KO8AMA.  141 

cally  strong  enough  to  cause  uneasiness  to  the  monarch  of  a 
country  like  Japan  should  not  sit  quietly  under  such  attacks. 
We  have  no  objection  to  you  making  converts,  they  may 
have  said;  but  when  it  came  to  breaking  down  temples  and 
destroying  the  images,  a  spirit  of  intense  opposition  was 
aroused.  But  when  to  this  a  system  of  persecution  was 
added — such  as  that  pursued  by  Don  Justo  in  his  territories, 
when  every  one  not  of  his  religion  was  driven  out,  when  the 
property  of  the  temples  was  taken  from  them,  and  perhaps 
given  to  their  opponents — only  one  end  can  be  looked  for; 
viz.,  that  one  party  should  be  victorious  over  the  other,  and 
that  by  a  war  to  the  knife,  a  struggle  of  life  and  death. 
The  Buddhists  were  roused.  They  could  live  alongside  of 
Confucianism,  or  of  Taouism  in  the  Yamabooshi,  or  of  the 
different  sects  among  themselves;  but  with  the  new  sect, 
this  Roman  Catholicism,  which  broke  its  neighbor's  temples 
down,  abused  him  to  his  face,  and  then  turned  every  one  out 
wherever  it  had  the  power  of  doing  so — the  only  method  with 
it  was  to  use  its  own  weapons  and  turn  it  out — to  root  it  out 
of  the  country. 

This  Inquisition  mode  of  dealing  could  have  ended  in  no 
other  way.  Japan  was  not  Spain,  as  the  Jesuits  found  out. 

The  Buddhists  felt  that  they  were  worsted  on  both  sides 
—by  the  military  power  on  the  one  side,  which  had  defeated 
their  soldiers,  burned  their  monasteries,  confiscated  their 
lands,  and  appropriated  their  temples;  by  the  Jesuits,  who 
had  seduced  their  people,  abused  themselves,  robbed  them 
of  their  tithes  and  offerings,  broken  down  their  gods,  and 
burned  the  temples,  and  were  now  attempting  to  make  con- 
verts in  the  palace  itself,  being  in  such  favor  as  to  be  re- 
ceived by  Taikosama  as  he  received  no  other. 

Taikosama  was  probably  a  proficient  in  the  Japanese  act 
of  dissembling.  At  first  he  was  doubtful  to  which  party  to 
incline ;  but  when  he  had  once  made  sure,  after  his  defeat 
of  the  ITegoros  and  seizure  of  their  territory  in  Kii,  that  the 
Buddhists  were  thoroughly  subdued,  there  could  be  little 
doubt,  knowing  the  man,  but  that  he  would  not  give  it  to 


HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

that  which  was  threatening  to  be  the  cause  of  renewed  dis- 
turbance in  the  empire,  and  whose  emissaries  thought  they 
had  a  right  to  reprove  him  whenever  it  pleased  them  to  do 
so.  But  it  was  Japanese  policy  to  flatter  them,  to  amuse 
them,  to  dissemble  with  them  till  the  moment  of  making  the 
spring.  Inflamed  by  the  Buddhist  priests  around  him,  he 
made  up  his  mind  that  the  new  sect  must  be  rooted  out.  In 
the  year  1586  Nagasaki  was  taken  from  the  Prince  of  Omura 
by  Taiko,  and  made  a  government  port  and  property.  At 
that  time,  native  history  tells  us,  Satsuma  and  Owotomo 
were  fighting.  To  this  war  Taikosama  put  an  end.  Some 
"battereng,"  or  padres,  came  to  Tsikuzen  to  see  Taiko.  He 
did  not  like  Roman  Catholics.  He  found  that  two  of  his 
own  servants  were  of  that  faith ;  they  were  speared  at  the 
temple  of  Hatchimang  at  Hakazaki.  The  padres  were  sent 
away.  Thirteen  churches  were  destroyed.  At  that  time 
the  province  of  Tsikuzen  belonged  partly  to  Owotomo  and 
partly  to  Satsuma.  Taikosama  took  it  from  both,  and  gave 
all  Hizen  and  Tsikuzen  to  Nabeshima,  formerly  a  servant 
of  Riozoji,  and  whose  descendants  hold  it  to  this  day.  He 
now  fixed  that  Nagasaki  was  to  be  the  only  place  where  for- 
eign trade  was  to  be  permitted. 

The  proclamation  of  1587  caused  the  greatest  dismay  in 
the  minds  of  the  Christians.  The  heads  of  the  church  de- 
termined that  they  would,  at  all  hazards,  keep  their  posts. 
They  took  refuge  in  the  territories  of  Boongo,  Arima,  Omura, 
Firando  and  Amacusa,  alleging  that  they  were  waiting  until 
a  ship  was  ready  to  take  them  away.  When  the  time  ar- 
rived, and  the  ship  ready,  the  captain  excused  himself  from 
carrying  the  fathers  this  year,  as  his  ship  was  already  over- 
laden, sending  a  letter  to  Taikosama,  which  did  not  reach 
him  for  several  months.  He  was  very  angry,  and  took 
down  the  churches  in  the  neighborhood  of  Miako.  At  the 
same  time  he  ordered  Don  Austin  to  exchange  his  lands 
near  Miako  for  others  in  Kiusiu. 

A  meeting  was  held  in  Firando  hi  August,  1587,  at  which 
the  heads  of  the  church  decided  that  the  proclamation  of 


GOVERNMENT   OF    TAIKOSAMA.  143 

Taikosama  was  not  to  be  obeyed,  but  that  prayers  were  to 
be  offered  up,  and  that  Christians  were  to  keep  quiet,  in  the 
hope  that  the  storm  might  blow  over. 

The  following  character  of  Taikosama  is  given  by  one  of 
the  Jesuit  writers:  "He  reigned  in  profound  peace,  and  to 
conserve  it  he  observed  these  rules  in  his  government.  First, 
After  subduing  his  enemies,  and  an  act  of  pardon,  he  never 
put  any  one  to  death,  as  Nobu  nanga,  his  predecessor,  had 
done,  who  never  spared  any  of  the  great  ones,  which  ren- 
dered his  government  odious  and  cruel ;  but  Taikosama  not 
only  spared  their  lives,  but  further  assigned  them  sufficient 
pensions  to  live  on,  which  made  them  easy  and  well  content. 

"Secondly,  He  forbade  all  quarrels  and  private  heats,  on 
grievous  penalties,  and  whoever  were  found  transgressing  in 
this  kind  were  punished  with  death.  If  any  of  these  fled, 
they  punished  the  relations  in  his  place;  and  in  default  of 
relations,  his  domestics;  and  in  default  of  these  his  next 
neighbors,  who  were  all  crucified  for  not  preventing  the 
disorder.  No  doubt  great  injustice  was  committed  by  this 
means,  and  several  innocent  people  suffered.  But  yet  the 
fear  of  death  made  all  zealous  and  careful  to  stifle  these 
animosities  and  heats  in  their  very  birth,  and  forced  them 
to  live  quiet. 

"Thirdly,  Though  he  was  a  tyrant,  he  would  have  jus- 
tice done  immediately  on  all  criminals,  without  regard  to 
birth,  quality,  services  or  any  alliance  whatever;  and  the 
party,  upon  the  first  conviction  of  his  crime,  was  put  to 
death  out  of  hand,  though  he  was  one  of  his  own  relations, 
and  of  the  very  blood-royal  itself.  He  was  most  lewdly  ad- 
dicted to  women,  nevertheless  he  pretended  that  none  had  a 
right  to  use  these  debauches  but  himself,  and  expressly  for- 
bade any  of  his  subjects  to  keep  a  concubine. 

"Another  means  of  preventing  troubles  was  to  keep  both 
soldiers  and  gentry  busy  employed ;  for  he  put  them  upon 
building  palaces,  raising  fortresses,  etc.,  knowing  very  well 
that  the  humor  of  the  great  ones  is  always  restless  and  un- 
quiet if  their  thoughts  are  not  taken  up  about  other  business. 


144  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

As  for  the  soldiers,  lest  idleness  should  effeminate  them,  he 
kept  them  always  employed  about  his  works. 

"Moreover,  besides  the  pensions  allowed  them  for  life,  he 
also  maintained  them  in  the  field,  which  kept  them  hi  sub- 
mission and  dependence.  As  for  kings,  lords  and  governors, 
he  made  frequent  alterations  and  changes  to  break  their 
measures,  and  hinder  them  from  growing  popular.  Above 
all,  he  studied  the  humor  and  genius  of  his  subjects;  and  if 
any  were  found  to  be  of  a  turbulent  nature,  he  secured  them, 
and  by  that  put  them  out  of  the  possibility  of  revolt  in  his 
absence. 

"In  fine,  what  rendered  his  government  so  peaceable, 
was  his  immense  treasures ;  for  by  these  riches  he  bound  all 
his  subjects  tight  to  his  interest,  keeping  all  in  hopes,  though 
he  never  intended  them  any  favors.  These  were  his  principal 
ways  and  means  of  maintaining  peace  in  his  governments." 

A  very  little  consideration  of  the  position  in  which  Taiko- 
sama,  as  ruler  of  Japan,  was  standing  to  these  foreigners, 
must  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  he  could  take  no  other  step 
than  that  which  he  had  taken.  They  had  come  to  the  coun- 
try uninvited.  They  had  found  the  country  in  the  posses- 
sion, so  to  speak,  of  a  religion  which  had  never  shown  a 
persecuting  spirit.  They  had  come  in  their  own  vessels. 
From  the  very  outset  they  had  displayed  a  hard,  persecut- 
ing spirit,  with  a  tendency  to  re-embroil  the  country  in  war, 
out  of  which  it  was  only  now  emerging.  They  had  insisted 
on  every  one  coming  into  subjection  to  them,  with  the  alter- 
native of  leaving  house  and  home  hi  case  of  refusal.  They 
were,  as  usual,  now  calling  in  the  assistance  of  the  temporal 
power  to  force  the  yoke  of  their  priestly  supremacy  on  the 
people  of  Japan.  Had  Taikosama  been  able  to  send  them 
away  in  vessels  of  the  country,  he  would  no  doubt  have  done 
so.  But  having  no  vessels,  he  gave  them  the  alternative  of 
living  peaceably  in  the  country,  or  of  leaving  it.  They 
forced  the  ruling  powers  of  Japan,  by  their  encroachments 
and  persecuting  system,  to  retaliate  upon  themselves,  and 
then  gloried  in  considering  themselves  martyrs.  They  were, 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  145 

in  short,  constituting  themselves  and  their  flocks,  over  whom 
they,  as  priests,  had  no  political  authority,  an  imperium  in 
imperio.  They  were  teaching  them  to  be  rebels  to  their 
own  government,  and  the  priests  themselves  were  obliged 
to  end  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  ought  to  have  commenced 
— a  spirit  of  meekness  among  their  enemies.  It  would  seem, 
from  old  as  well  as  from  recent  experience,  that,  for  Chris- 
tians to  live  among  heathens,  it  is  necessary  to  have  an  "ex- 
territoriality" power;  but  that  is  equivalent  to  saying  sim- 
ply that  the  Christian  power  is  the  strongest,  and  it  means 
to  enforce  what  it  thinks  right. 

According  to  the  resolutions  of  the  meeting  at  Firando, 
the  Roman  Catholics  kept  quiet  and  in  retirement  in  the 
several  provinces  in  which  they  were  settled. 

The  first  of  the  line  of  Owotomo  began  as  personal  ser- 
vant of  Yoritomo;  and  a  portion  of  Satsuma's  territory  was 
given  to  him,  after  which  the  family  rose  to  greatness  dur- 
ing the  wars  between  the  Emperors  of  the  North  and  South. 
About  1374  they  acquired  a  large  territory  in  the  north- 
east of  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  covering  the  whole  of  Boongo 
and  parts  of  Boozen  and  the  adjoining  provinces — Tsikugo 
and  Tsikuzen.  In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  this 
territory  included  nearly  one-half  of  the  island.  The  family 
was  ruined  in  the  persecution  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  The 
principality  of  Arima  covered,  at  one  time,  the  greater  part 
of  the  province  of  Fizen.  The  territory,  as  was  often  the 
case  with  small  proprietors  in  feudal  times,  was  at  different 
times  enlarged  and  contracted.  Latterly,  it  seems  to  have 
included  only  the  peninsula  on  which  the  town  of  Simabarra 
stands,  and  but  little  more. 

Omura  is  the  name  of  a  town  which  stands  on  the  land- 
locked bay  of  the  same  name,  in  the  province  of  Fizen, 
about  twenty  miles  from  Nagasaki;  and  the  territory  held 
by  the  lord  of  that  name  included  a  strip  of  ground  round 
the  city,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  peninsula  on  which 
Nagasaki  stands.  The  family  seems  to  have  been  an  off- 
shoot from  Arna,  and  never  to  have  been  of  any  great 

7 


146  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

power  until  the  rise  of  Nagasaki,  which  no  sooner  became 
of  any  value  than  it  was  taken  from  the  lord  by  Taikosama, 
and  has  ever  since  remained  government  property. 

The  lord  of  Boongo,  who  had  patronized  the  Jesuit 
priests  ("our  Maecenas,"  as  they  call  him),  and  afterward 
had  been  converted  and  baptized,  had  died  in  the  year  1587. 
He  had  abdicated  in  favor  of  his  son,  but  at  one  time  re- 
sumed the  reins ;  but  before  his  death  had  the  pain  of  wit- 
nessing the  diminution  of  the  family  estates  by  powerful 
and  rapacious  neighbors.  His  son,  after  losing  part  of  his 
estates  and  the  favor  of  Taikosama,  thought  to  regain  both 
by  showing  some  activity  in  acting  up  to  the  recent  procla- 
mation. He  was  the  first  to  commence  the  persecution  of 
his  father's  friends.  Meantime,  Taikosama  returned  to 
Miako,  and  seems  to  have  forgotten  his  edict  and  the 
Christians  altogether.  Probably  the  truth  is,  that  during 
all  this  time,  though  he  was  annoyed  by  the  Jesuits  and 
their  proceedings,  he  was  working  out  in  his  own  mind 
the  means  of  making  an  attack  upon  China.  He  saw  in 
the  foreign  ships  easy  means  of  transport,  and,  knowing  the 
influence  the  priests  exerted  over  the  merchants,  his  hopes 
lay  in  keeping  in  with  the  former  to  obtain  the  assistance  of 
the  latter  in  his  design.  Some  time  after  the  promulgation 
of  the  edict,  he  received  most  graciously  Father  Valignan, 
Provincial  of  Japan  and  the  Indies,  as  embassador  from  the 
Viceroy  of  India,  and  as  associate  with  the  four  young  em- 
bassadors  who  had  returned  from  Europe. 

The  annexation  of  Nagasaki  by  government  in  1590  was 
a  great  blow  to  the  Jesuits,  inasmuch  as  it  had  been  a  source 
of  wealth,  through  the  lord  of  Omura,  who  was  a  Christian ; 
and  also,  inasmuch  as  hitherto  the  governor  had  always  been 
a  Christian,  and  he  was  now  exchanged  for  two  heathens. 
The  place  had  increased  rapidly  from  the  time  the  Jesuits 
first  went  there,  probably  about  1575,  when  there  were  only 
500  houses  in  the  place,  till  1590,  when  there  were  5,000  fam- 
ilies resident,  besides  merchants  and  tradesmen  who  came 
there  in  June  from  all  parts  on  the  arrival  of  the  fleets. 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  147 

In  the  year  1592,  Taikosama  carried  out  the  project  he 
had  long  been  thinking  on,  viz.,  the  invasion  of  Corea  and 
thence  of  China,  called  in  the  letters  "a  foolish  and  temera- 
rious enterprise,  infinitely  hazardous,  if  not  morally  imprac- 
ticable." It  is  difficult  to  see  what  motive  existed  for  this 
invasion.  Being  a  man  of  war  from  his  youth,  and  know- 
ing nothing  else,  he  perhaps  longed  for  new  conquests.  The 
Jesuit  writers  attribute  it  to  a  wish  to  use  up  the  Christians 
in  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  as  well  as  to  get  rid  of — Uriah-like 
— some  of  the  best  generals  of  his  army,  who  were  believers 
in  the  new  doctrines.  Another  reason  they  give  was  his 
wish  to  rival  the  greatest  hero  of  the  empire,  now  wor- 
shiped as  the  god  of  war — Hatchimang — who  had  con- 
quered Corea  through  his  mother.  He  made  great  prep- 
arations, giving  out  that  he  was  going  to  lead  the  army 
himself.  He  handed  over  the  power  he  held  in  Japan  to 
his  nephew,  Hidetsoongu,  giving  him,  through  the  Em- 
peror, the  title  of  Kwanbakku.  He  appointed  four  generals 
of  the  army,  two  of  whom  were  Christians,  Don  Austin  and 
Kahi  no  kami,  son  of  Don  Simon;  the  two  other  generals 
were  Toronosuqui  and  Aki  no  kami.  Under  the  two  former 
were  several  Christian  lords,  Arima,  Omura,  Amacusa, 
Boongo,  Tsussima,  Don  Austin's  son-in-law,  and  others, 
with  an  army  of  40,000  men.  The  total  number  of  men 
collected,  including  seamen  and  tradesmen,  was  said  to  have 
been  300,000,  a  large  number  to  supply  with  food,  and  only 
possible  with  an  army  fed  nearly  wholly  upon  rice.  One- 
half  of  the  army,  after  a  council  of  war,  set  sail  from  Nan- 
goya  in  Fizen,  and  was  landed  at  Fusancay  or  Fkusan,  at 
the  southern  extremity  of  Corea.  Don  Austin  commanded 
this  division.  In  no  long  time  he  repeatedly  defeated  the 
Corean  army  and  captured  several  fortresses.  Taikosama 
ordered  Toronosuqui  and  his  half  of  the  army  to  follow  into 
Corea  without  delay.  He  came  up  to  the  support  of  Don 
Austin,  but,  according  to  the  Jesuits'  account,  treacherously 
held  back  his  men  that  Don  Austin  might  be  defeated  before 
he  came  to  his  support.  The  Coreans  seem  to  have  shown 


148  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

no  capacity  for  war,  and  in  no  long  time  nearly  the  whole 
fortresses  of  the  kingdom  were  in  possession  of  the  Japanese. 

Taikosama,  according  to  the  Roman  Catholic  authorities, 
still  jealous  of  the  body  of  Christians,  especially  after  Don 
Austin's  success,  collected  150,000  men  out  of  Kiusiu,  and 
sent  them  over  to  Corea,  ordering  the  commander-in-chief 
to  return  the  vessels  immediately  in  order  that  he  might 
follow  in  the  spring.  This  is  said  to  have  been  a  ruse  to 
shut  off  their  return. 

Meantime  the  large  force  in  Corea  was  being  neglected ; 
they  were  left  without  provisions  or  ammunition.  Their 
men,  deserting,  were  taken  and  killed,  and  at  length  Don 
Austin  was  forced  to  fall  back,  and,  after  several  engage- 
ments, signed  an  agreement  with  the  Coreans  by  which  the 
latter  were  to  send  two  embassadors  to  Taikosama,  and  the 
Japanese  were  to  retire,  and  only  to  occupy  twelve  forts  on 
the  sea-coast.  The  Japanese  army  was  computed  to  have 
lost  150,000  men.  A  truce  was  concluded,  and  embassadors 
accompanied  Don  Austin  to  Japan.  The  following  demands 
were  made:  1.  That  eight  provinces  of  Corea  be  handed 
over  to  Japan;  2.  That  the  Emperor  of  China  give  one  of 
his  daughters  to  Taikosama;  3.  That  there  should  be  a  free 
trade  between  the  two  countries,  and  that  China  and  Corea 
should  pay  Japan  a  yearly  tribute. 

In  1592,  Lupus  di  Liano,  a  Spanish  envoy,  was  dis- 
patched from  Manila  to  lay  complaints  against  the  Portu- 
guese before  Taikosama.  He  was  lost  on  his  return  with 
the  vessel  in  which  he  sailed. 

In  1593  the  governor  of  the  Philippines  sent  over  another 
envoy.  He  took  over  with  him  four  religious  Recollects  of 
St.  Francis.  These  were  the  first  arrivals  in  Japan  of  any 
other  order  not  of  the  Jesuit,  with  the  exception  of  one 
Dominican,  who  accompanied  the  previous  Spanish  envoy. 
Among  the  presents  was  a  Spanish  horse  richly  harnessed. 
Among  the  presents  brought  by  Father  Valignan  had  been 
an  Arab  horse.  The  blood  of  these  presents  has  probably 
influenced  the  breed  in  Japan. 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  149 

At  an  interview  with  Taikosama  these  Franciscans  asked 
to  see  his  palace.  "With  all  my  heart,  provided  you  do  not 
preach  in  my  states."  The  religious,  being  leeolved  not  to 
obey  him,  gave  no  promise,  but  made  a  low  reverence. 
Shortly  after,  the  governor  of  Miako  sent  to  the  Jesuit  fa- 
thers to  tell  them  to  go  on  with  their  work  of  piety,  but 
with  privacy  and  prudence.  In  consequence  of  this  they 
hired  a  house  and  met  privately,  none  appearing  in  public 
except  two,  "But  the  fathers  of  St.  Francis  thought  not 
themselves  obliged  to  such  condescendence.  Their  ardent 
zeal  made  them  believe  that  such  deference  to  the  order  of 
the  sovereign  was  contrary  to  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel,  and 
that  they  ought  to  preach  the  faith  despite  of  all  laws  to  the 
contrary."  They  went  to  Taikosama  and  asked  for  some 
place  away  from  secular  people  to  build  a  little  house  for 
their  own  private  convenience.  He  did  not  carry  his  edict 
into  -execution  against  them,  but  referred  them  to  the 
governor  of  Miako,  who  assigned  "them  a  very  sweet  seat 
without  the  walls  of  Miako,  commanding  that  they  should 
neither  preach  nor  hold  assemblies  of  Christians,  according 
to  Taikosama's  orders.  But  the  fathers,  without  regard  to 
either  the  governor's  advice  or  Taikosama's  orders,  built 
immediately  both  a  church  and  a  convent  with  a  wall  about 
it.  Even  the  wise  and  more  prudent  among  the  Christians 
advised  them  to  be  seriously  careful  of  what  they  were  doing. 
The  governor,  hearing  of  it,  sent  and  requested  them  to  shut 
up  their  church."  He  was  obliged  to  inform  Taikosama, 
saying,  "He  feared  that  these  religious,  who  call  themselves 
embassadors  from  the  Philippines,  intend  to  preach  like  the 
rest."  "They  won't,"  replied  he,  in  a  passion,  "if  they  be 
wise;  for  if  they  do,  I'll  teach  them  to  laugh  at  me." 

These  Franciscans,  thinking  they  were  most  successful, 
wrote  to  Manila  for  others  to  come  over  to  assist  them. 
They  opened  a  church  at  Osaka,  and  designed  to  erect  a 
third  at  Nagasaki.  To  this  end  they  desired  the  governor 
would  obtain  leave  of  Taikosama  for  two  sick  to  change  air. 
The  governor  said  in  case  of  health  they  were  free  to  go 


150  HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

where  they  pleased.  Upon  this  two  went  to  Nagasaki,  and 
began  to  say  mass  and  preach  publicly  without  any  regard 
to  the  Emperor's  mandates. 

The  Jesuits  were  much  surprised  that  these  Franciscan 
fathers  should  fix  a  residence  in  their  jurisdiction  without 
their  consent;  while  the  lieutenant-governor,  having  re- 
ceived strict  orders  not  to  permit  any  service  in  the  town, 
was  in  doubts  what  to  do.  He  referred  to  the  governor, 
and  he,  being  alarmed  for  himself,  ordered  a  note  to  be 
taken  of  every  one  who  disobeyed  the  law,  but  said  he 
would  apply  for  further  instructions  to  Taikosama  himself. 
Hearing  from  Miako  that  these  men  had  asked  and  received 
permission  to  go  to  Nagasaki  on  the  plea  of  sickness  only,  he 
ordered  them  out  of  his  jurisdiction,  which  seems  to  be  a 
very  lenient  course  of  treatment,  considering  the  trouble 
that  had  already  arisen  out  of  this  preaching. 

The  success  of  Konishi  (Don  Austin)  in  Corea  seems  at 
first  to  have  operated  in  his  favor.  Taikosama  was  de- 
lighted; but  as  soon  as  this  first  feeling  was  over,  alarm 
at  thinking  he  was  a  Christian,  and  as  such  could  com- 
mand the  services  of  a  very  large  body  of  his  countrymen 
at  a  word  from  the  Jesuit  priests,  seems  to  have  been  the 
most  prominent  feeling  in  his  mind.  He  knew  by  experi- 
ence that  the  Buddhist  priests  had  been  able  to  keep  the 
armies  of  Nobu  nanga  at  bay  for  several  years.  He  there- 
fore dissembled,  and  in  the  mean  time  he  recalled  Justo  to 
court,  and  gave  him  a  large  pension. 

At  this  time,  however,  another  circumstance  occurred 
which  occupied  his  mind  for  a  time.  Hidetsoongu,  his 
nephew,  had  been  acknowledged  as  heir,  and  power  was 
delegated  to  him  as  regent  while  Taiko  should  be  away  in 
Corea.  Of  this  young  man  a  somewhat  extraordinary  ac- 
count is  given  in  the  Jesuit  letters.  In  1587,  when  Taiko 
chose  to  make  a  great  show  of  favor  to  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics and  the  missionaries,  the  fathers  were  taken  up  contin- 
ually with  preaching,  baptizing  and  instructing  such  of  the 
principal  lords  as  desired  earnestly  this  sacrament,  among 


GOVERNMENT    OF   TAIKOSAMA.  151 

whom  was  Taiko's  own  nephew,  and  presumptive  heir  to 
the  crown. 

"Hidetsoongu  was  a  young  man  of  three-and-thirty  years 
of  age,  endowed  with  all  the  qualifications  that  can  be  de- 
sired in  a  young  prince.  He  had  a  quick  and  penetrating 
wit,  and  excellent  judgment,  and  withal  a  most  courteous 
and  obliging  behavior.  He  was  wise,  prudent  and  discreet. 
He  abhorred  the  vices  of  his  country  and  loved  learning,  and 
took  pleasure  in  it.  For  this  reason  he  was  delighted  in  the 
company  of  the  fathers,  and  knowing  that  our  religion  set 
value  on  virtue  and  good  manners,  he  took  a  particular 
affection  to  it. 

"But  all  these  good  qualities  were  quite  obscured  by  a 
strange  and  most  inhuman  vice.  He  took  a  strange  kind  of 
pleasure  and  diversion  in  killing  men,  insomuch  that  when 
any  one  was  condemned  to  die,  he  chose  to  be  executioner 
himself.  He  walled  in  a  place  near  his  palace,  and  set  in 
the  middle  a  sort  of  table  for  the  criminal  to  lie  on  till  he 
hewed  him  to  pieces.  Sometimes,  also,  he  took  them  stand- 
ing, and  split  them  in  two.  But  his  greatest  satisfaction 
was  to  cut  them  off  limb  by  limb,  which  he  did  as  exactly 
as  one  can  take  off  the  leg  or  wing  of  a  fowl.  Sometimes, 
also,  he  set  them  up  for  a  mark,  and  shot  at  them  with  pis- 
tols and  arrows.  But  what  is  most  horrid  of  all,  he  used  to 
rip  up  women  with  child  to  see  how  the  infants  lay  in  their 
mother's  womb.  Father  Froes,  who  had  seen  and  conversed 
with  him,  describes  him  as  you  have  seen."  This  account  is 
corroborated  by  native  history. 

For  many  years  Hidetsoongu  had  been  looked  upon  as 
his  uncle's  heir.  He  had  three  children;  but  about  this  time 
one  of  Taiko's  wives  had  a  son,  who  was  thought  by  many 
to  be  supposititious.  "Be  it  as  it  will,"  write  the  fathers, 
"he  made  great  rejoicing  for  it  all  over  Japan,  and  insisted 
on  his  nephew  adopting  the  child  as  his  son." 

The  consequence  was  that  uncle  and  nephew  became 
jealous  and  distrustful  each  of  the  other.  In  the  "History 
of  the  Church"  a  full  account  is  given  of  their  meetings  in 


152  HIS1VRY   OF  JAPAN. 

Miako.  "Taikosama  sent  to  his  nephew  to  say  he  would 
invest  him  with  full  power.  Hidetsoongu  prepared  a  mag- 
nificent feast.  The  day  was  settled,  but  the  uncle  was 
afraid  to  trust  himself  within  the  palace  of  Juraku,  where 
the  nephew  was  waiting  for  him.  At  last  he  was  per- 
suaded to  go,  and  went  with  great  magnificence  in  a  tri- 
umphal chariot  (a  closed  box)  all  laid  with  gold,  drawn  by 
two  large  oxen  with  gilt  horns.  The  procession  lasted  from 
morning  till  two  in  the  afternoon.  All  this  time  Taiko 
minded  more  the  security  of  his  own  person  than  all  the 
entertainments.  He  placed  guards  all  about  his  apartments, 
and  advised  his  nephew  to  lodge  in  another  palace.  The 
nobility  generally  believed  that  Hidetsoongu  would  never 
let  slip  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  avenging  the  injuries  he 
had  received,  and  therefore  every  one  took  care  of  himself. 
But  no  attempt  was  made  on  Taiko's  life.  Appearances 
were  kept  up  for  some  days;  but  the  nephew,  disgusted 
with  his  uncle's  treatment,  secretly  began  to  make  the  prep- 
arations which  had  been  expected  of  him  long  before. ' '  But 
he  was  betrayed  by  the  first  of  the  nobles  to  whom  he  ap- 
plied— probably  Mowori  (known  as  Choshiu),  who  gave 
Taiko  information.  In  no  long  time  Taiko  brought  the 
matter  to  a  point  by  asking  explicit  answers  to  plain  ques- 
tions, and  in  the  meantime  collected  troops  about  Miako. 
When  he  thought  he  was  safe,  he  sent  to  his  nephew  and 
ordered  him  off  instanter  to  his  father's  territory.  He  was 
then  ordered  to  enter  the  monastery  of  Koga,  used  as  a  re- 
treat by  exiled  nobles.  He  marched,  accordingly,  all  night. 
The  prisoner  was  treated  as  badly  as  possible;  and  in  Au- 
gust, 1795,  an  order  came  from  his  uncle  that  he  and  his 
servants  should  rip  themselves  up.  Hidetsoongu  paid  the 
last  attention  one  friend  can  pay  to  another  in  Japan,  and 
cut  their  heads  off  after  they  had  stabbed  themselves.  He 
himself  repeatedly  stabbed  himself,  and  one  of  his  esquires 
took  his  master's  saber  and  cut  off  his  head,  and  then  stab- 
bing himself,  fell  on  his  body.  Father  Froes  seems  to  have 
been  on  the  spot  at  the  time. 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  153 

Taikosama,  in  the  whole  of  this  affair,  showed  a  spirit  of 
extreme  cruelty  and  vindictiveness.  He,  not  satisfied  with 
the  life  of  his  nephew,  put  to  death  all  his  friends,  and  then, 
collecting  his  family,  sent  his  wives  and  children,  the  eldest 
five  years  of  age,  his  own  grand-nephews  and  nieces,  to  exe- 
cution ;  with  savage  atrocity  sending  for  his  nephew's  head 
that  it  might  be  shown  to  them  at  the  scaffold.  They  were 
all  beheaded  to  the  number  of  thirty-one  ladies  and  three 
children,  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  a  hole  in  Sanjio  Street, 
over  which  a  sort  of  erection  or  tomb  was  built,  and  on  it  the 
inscription,  Tchikushozuka,  "The  tomb  of  bitches,"  which 
remains  to  this  day.  A  temple  has  been  built  close  by,  and 
is  named  Tchikushozuka  no  dera. 

Taikosama  had  long  set  his  heart  upon  the  hope  of  pre- 
vailing upon  the  Emperor  of  China  to  send  an  embassy  to 
Japan,  and,  to  his  own  surprise,  his  ambition  was  gratified. 
Don  Austin,  according  to  Jesuit  accounts,  by  working  upon 
the  fears  of  the  officers  of  the  Celestial  court,  induced  them 
to  send  two  men  to  Corea,  who  were  ordered  to  pass  over 
into  China.  Taikosama  made  preparations  to  receive  this 
embassy  with  great  magnificence,  but  in  the  end  treated  the 
envoy  with  marked  insolence  and  rudeness. 

In  August  of  1596  a  comet  was  visible  for  fifteen  days  in 
Japan,  and  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month  a  frightful  earth- 
quake is  recorded  to  have  occurred.  By  this  the  greater  part 
of  the  buildings  recently  erected  at  great  expense  at  Osaka 
and  Fusimi  were  completely  demolished.  Recurring  at  mid- 
night of  the  1st  of  September  with  awful  violence,  all  the 
magnificent  buildings  raised  by  the  Taiko  were  in  a  moment 
thrown  down — two  lofty  eight-storied  buildings,  visited  by 
the  fathers,  being  destroyed.  Stones,  each  of  which  had  re- 
quired the  united  efforts  of  1, 500  men  to  put  in  their  places, 
were  hurled  out.  The  heavy  roofs  of  temples  and  buildings, 
subsiding  en  masse,  buried  many  under  them,  and,  as  usual 
in  Japan,  the  fires  which  arose  carried  death  to  those  buried 
under  the  wood.  The  occasion  is  used  by  one  of  the  fathers, 
in  his  letter,  to  indulge  in  a  sneer  against  the  Buddhist  priest- 


154  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

hood.  In  doing  so,  he  gives  some  insight  into  the  tenets  in- 
culcated in  their  sermons  by  these  Buddhist  priests.  "He 
was  preaching  on  the  evening  prior  to  the  earthquake  with 
such  a  torrent  of  eloquence  as  to  bear  all  before  him,  and 
the  main  drift  of  his  discourse  was  the  mercy  and  bounty  of 
his  god  toward  his  clients,  particularly  at  the  hour  of  death. 
He  enlarged  upon  his  charity  to  mankind,  showing  that  he 
would  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  without  distinction  or  ex- 
ception of  persons,  exhorting  them  to  cast  themselves  on  his 
mercy.  So  soon  as  he  had  made  an  end  of  speaking,  the 
people  cried  out  with  a  general  voice,  'Our  god  be  merciful 
to  us!'  But  Amida  was  probably  asleep,  for  that  very  night 
the  temple  fell  to  the  ground,  the  idol  was  broken,  and  the 
preacher  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life."  By  this  convul- 
sion the  immense  copper  figure  of  Buddha  at  Miako  was 
broken.  The  Jesuit  accounts  state  that  seventy  women 
about  the  palace  at  Fusimi  were  killed,  the  Taiko  himself 
narrowly  escaping  to  a  mountain  top,  where  he  dwelt  in  a 
reed  hut,  for  fear  of  being  swallowed  up  in  the  chasms  of 
the  earth.  Saccay,  the  richest  and  most  voluptuous  city  of 
Japan,  suffered,  at  the  same  time,  greatly  from  one  of  those 
fearful  incursions  of  the  sea  consequent  upon  a  temporary 
depression  or  bending  downward  of  the  crust  of  the  earth. 
In  the  meanwhile  Taikosama's  passion  began  to  cool,  and 
the  fathers  "had  grounds  to  hope  that  religion  would  be  re- 
established, as  he  was  rather  pleased  at  their  obeying  his 
edict,  and  keeping  quiet  in  deference  to  his  wishes."  He 
still  took  pleasure  in  occasionally  receiving  the  bishop,  and 
winked  at  the  fathers  remaining  in  the  capital.  But  when 
everything  was  again  promising  of  fair  wind,  another  storm 
arose,  and  again  the  origin  is  attributed  by  the  Jesuits,  not 
to  the  Japanese,  but  to  the  same  Franciscan  fathers  who 
had  recently  arrived  from  Manila.  The  Jesuits'  letters  say, 
''The  Recollects  of  the  regular  observance  of  St.  Francis, 
who  were  lately  settled  at  Miako,  being  now  conversant  in 
the  language  of  the  country,  began  to  preach  publicly  in  the 
churches,  to  hear  confessions  and  baptize  the  infidels,  with- 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  155 

out  any  regard  to  the  Emperor's  orders.  Had  religion  been 
on  the  same  footing  as  heretofore,  the  zeal  and  labor  of  these 
holy  men  would  have  wrought  wonders,  but  the  design  was 
so  ill-concerted  at  this  juncture,  that,  instead  of  reaping  any 
advantage  by  it,  as  was  expected,  it  drew  a  bloody  persecu- 
tion both  upon  themselves  and  the  other  Christians.  For 
being  newly  established  in  Japan,  little  acquainted  with  the 
genius  of  the  people,  and  less  with  Taikosama's  designs, 
they  gave  full  scope  to  their  zeal  without  regard  to  the  Em- 
peror's threats,  or  even  to  the  advice  of  their  friends,  who 
counseled  them  all  along  to  act  in  concert  with  the  other 
religious,  who  by  their  prudence  and  wise  conduct  had 
counted  so  many  thousands  of  souls  in  this  mission.  But 
nothing  was  able  to  stop  this  torrent  of  zeal.  Designing 
well,  they  believed  themselves  obliged  to  overlook  all  human 
respects,  and  this  persuasion  made  them  jealous  of  friends' 
advice  as  savoring  of  jealousy  and  envy.  The  Christians, 
not  at  all  satisfied  with  their  conduct,  begged  of  them  to 
moderate  their  zeal ;  but  being  men  that  undervalued  their 
lives,  and  in  a  persuasion  that  the  Emperor  would  never 
offer  any  rudeness  to  persons  of  their  character  that  bore 
the  name  of  embassadors  from  one  of  the  greatest  monarchs 
of  the  world,  they  continued  their  functions  with  new  fervor 
and  zeal.  The  natives  said,  'These  men  neither  regard  our 
counsel  nor  the  Emperor's  orders,  but  one  day  they'll 
repent  it.'  ' 

But  still,  notwithstanding  these  infractions  of  the  recently 
published  edict,  there  was  no  ill-will  shown  to  these  men. 
Four  new  governors  of  state  had  been  appointed.  These 
governors,  hearing  of  the  friars'  rashness,  sent  to  them  pri- 
vately to  admonish  them  of  their  danger,  telling  them  that 
if  it  came  to  Taiko's  ears  he  would  certainly  put  them  all  to 
death.  This  information  only  added  new  life  and  vigor  to 
their  zeal,  so  desirous  were  they  of  suffering  martyrdom  for 
Christ.  The  viceroy  sent  for  two  of  these  friars  to  the  pal- 
ace, and  reprimanded  them  severely  for  slighting  the  Em- 
peror's desires.  This  notwithstanding,  they  went  on  with 


156  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

their  functions.  The  superior  of  the  Jesuits,  F.  Organtin, 
hearing  of  those  complaints  by  the  governor,  as  well  as  the 
Christians  and  heathens,  sent  to  Friar  Baptist  to  lay  before 
him  the  danger  himself  and  his  family,  as  well  as  the  whole 
Church  of  Japan,  was  in  if  he  did  not  (so  far  as  reason,  con- 
science and  zeal  of  God's  glory  would  permit)  study  to  give 
the  governor  satisfaction,  and  yield  a  little  to  the  times. 
"I  do  not  find,"  says  the  writer,  "what  answer  was  given, 
but  this  is  certain,  they  both  preached  and  administered  the 
sacraments  after  that  more  publicly  than  before." 

These  men,  under  the  quality  of  embassadors,  had  come 
to  the  country,  and  under  the  same  name  were  remaining  in 
Japan  to  insult  the  supreme  power,  and  to  irritate  the  gov- 
ernment into  taking  the  only  means  in  its  power  of  support- 
ing its  own  dignity;  viz.,  putting  them  out  of  the  way. 
"Guenifoin"  (probably  Kio  no  kami,  or  governor  of  Miako), 
"who  had  all  along  favored  the  Christians,  foreseeing  the 
ill-consequences  of  this  refractory  humor,  suspended  still 
the  execution  of  his  threats,  and  did  not  so  much  as  hint  at 
it  either  to  the  court.  However,  the  business  was  discov- 
ered at  last,  and  the  friars  were  betrayed  by  their  friend 
Faranda,  the  person  who  invited  them  over  from  the  Philip- 
pines." They  intrigued  with  this  man,  who  seems  to  have 
used  his  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  language  and  his  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Roman  fathers  of  the  church  for  his 
own  advancement.  "At  first  they  had  some  difficulty  in 
accepting  his  invitation  (in  the  name  of  Taikosama)  to  visit 
Japan,  as  contrary  to  the  decree  of  Gregory  XIII.  forbid- 
ding all  priests  (the  Society  excepted)  to  preach  in  Japan. 
All  the  able  men  whom  they  consulted  agreed  that  embas- 
sadors were  not  included  in  this  decree ;  and  Sextus  Quintus 
having  given  leave  to  the  religious  of  St.  Francis  to  preach 
the  Gospel  through  the  West  Indies,  the  islands  of  Japan 
fell  in  course  as  part  of  the  whole." 

The  conduct  of  these  men  would  in  any  country  have  ex- 
posed them  to  the  notice  of  the  government.  There  is  little 
need  for  drawing  into  the  question  of  the  treatment  of  these 


GOVERNMENT   OF   TAIKOSAMA.  157 

embassadorial  fathers  the  conduct  of  the  captain  of  a  rich 
Spanish  galleon  wrecked  upon  the  southern  coast  of  Sikok. 
This  man  lost  his  ship,  and  the  treasures  were  seized  by 
Taikosama.  "Upon  being  examined,  he  pointed  out  on  a 
map  the  territories  belonging  to  the  King  of  Spain,  and 
added  that  the  way  in  which  he  obtained  such  extensive 
possessions  was  by  first  sending  missionaries;  and  so  soon 
as  they  had  gained  a  sufficient  number  of  proselytes,  the 
King  followed  with  his  troops,  and,  joining  the  new  con- 
verts, made  a  conquest  of  the  kingdoms." 

Upon  the  conduct  of  these  Franciscan  fathers  being 
brought  to  the  notice  of  Taikosama,  he  at  once  ordered 
them  to  be  executed.  At  first  the  Jesuits  thought  that  all 
Christians  were  included  in  this  order;  but  the  Giboo  no 
sho  wrote  to  Nagasaki  to  the  governor,  in  the  name  of  Tai- 
kosama, to  see  that  no  affront  was  offered  to  the  Jesuits, 
whom  he  was  pleased  to  have  reside  there  on  condition  that 
they  did  not  preach,  or  baptize,  or  hold  assemblies. 

The  Father  Provincial  of  the  Jesuits,  considering  this  con- 
dition opposed  to  the  law  of  God,  resolved  to  take  no  notice 
of  it,  but  wrote  to  those  under  him  to  extend  the  empire  of 
Christ,  but  still  by  such  ways  and  means  as  might  not  give 
the  Emperor  cause  of  complaint.  These  five  Franciscans 
were  sent  down  from  Miako  to  Nagasaki  to  be  there  exe- 
cuted, under  the  following  sentence: 

' '  Seeing  that  these  men  have  come  from  the  Philippine 
Islands  in  the  quality  of  embassadors,  yet  have  continued 
residing  at  Miako  to  spread  the  Christian  law,  which  I  some 
years  ago  prohibited,  I  command  that  all  of  them,  together 
with  those  Japanese  who  have  enrolled  themselves  under 
this  law,  be  arrested,  and  let  the  whole  twenty-four  undergo 
the  punishment  of  the  cross  at  Nagasaki.  And  once  more 
I  prohibit  the  foresaid  doctrine  in  tune  to  come.  Let  all 
know  this,  and,  further,  that  it  be  carried  into  execution. 
But  if  any  one  will  not  obey  my  edict,  he,  with  all  his  fam- 
ily, shall  be  punished." 

The  punishment  of  the  cross  is  inflicted  by  tying  the  crim- 


158  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

inal  to  a  cross  and  transfixing  the  lungs  and  heart  with  two 
sharp  spears.  The  twenty-four  were  thus  executed  at  Na- 
gasaki on  February  5,  1597.  The  religious  of  St.  Francis, 
together  with  the  three  Jesuits,  were  all  place^  in  the  Cata- 
logue of  Saints  by  Urban  VIII.,  in  the  year  1627. 

These  men  were  punished  by  the  Taiko  not  on  account 
of  their  religion,  but  as  contumelious  persons,  defying  his 
laws.  He  appreciated  the  benefits  of  foreign  trade,  he  valued 
the  presents  brought  to  him,  and  he  admired  the  learning  of 
the  Jesuits ;  but  he  now  saw  a  new  doctrine  being  adopted 
by  his  subjects  which  would  tolerate  no  other  near  it.  The 
followers  of  this  doctrine  were  becoming  a  great  political 
power  in  the  state,  and  more  particularly  in  Simo  or  Kiusiu. 
Several  of  his  principal  military  officers  adhered  to  this  new 
sect.  Some  of  the  highest  nobles  in  the  land  had,  according 
to  the  accounts  of  the  Jesuits,  favored  it.  The  bishop,  to 
whom  no  doubt  extraordinary  external  reverence  would  be 
shown  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  was  an  occasional  visitor  at 
Taikosama's  court.  F.  Rodriguez  was  apparently  in  con- 
stant attendance  as  interpreter.  The  desire  to  continue  to 
participate  in  the  advantages  of  foreign  trade  was  being 
counterbalanced  by  the  probable  dangers  of  the  ascendency 
of  such  a  power  in  the  state,  and  Taikosama  was  becoming 
alarmed.  There  was  a  strong  party  opposed  to  the  Roman 
Catholics — those  who  had  been  expelled  from  their  lands,  or 
who  had  been  obliged  to  conform  to  retain  them ;  those  who 
were  envious  or  jealous  of  the  rise  of  such  men  as  Konishi 
from  a  comparatively  low  position  to  a  high  military  com- 
mand ;  the  priests,  whose  flocks  were  being  withdrawn,  and 
their  incomes  thereby  diminished;  and  all  that  numerous 
class  whose  interests  are  on  the  side  of  things  remaining  as 
they  are — all  these  were  pressing  that  something  should  be 
done  to  overthrow  the  political  structure  which  these  foreign- 
ers were  attempting  to  raise. 

During  the  life  of  Taikosama  these  men,  with  their  native 
associates,  were  the  only  sufferers  for  disobedience  to  his  edict. 

While  Taikosama  seemed  every  day  becoming  more  timid 


GOVERNMENT  OF   TAIKOSAMA.  159 

and  afraid  of  what  steps  might  be  taken  by  the  Christian 
party,  an  embassy  arrived  from  Manila,  to  whose  demand 
he  replied  that  "he  puty  to  death  the  Franciscans  because 
they  preached  the  Christian  religion  in  his  empire  contrary 
to  his  express  command."  But  he  did  not  pursue  his  harsh 
measures  any  further.  He  wished  to  get  rid  of  such  disturb- 
ers of  the  empire;  and  "hearing  that  Spain  and  Portugal 
were  now  under  one  prince,  he  became  jealous  to  the  last 
degree  that  the  Jesuits  of  these  two  nations  concerted  to- 
gether, under  the  color  of  religion,  to  bring  Japan  under  the 
same  yoke. ' '  He  determined,  therefore,  while  all  the  Chris- 
tian princes  were  in  Corea,  to  send  away  by  ship  all  the  for- 
eign priests.  But  still  he  allowed  a  few  to  remain  in  Na- 
gasaki, on  condition  that  they  did  not  stir  out  of  town,  nor 
preach. 

He  ordered  Terasawa,  governor  of  Nagasaki,  to  assemble 
all  the  Jesuits  and  ship  them  off  by  the  first  convenience  to 
China.  This,  in  truth,  seems  to  have  been  the  only  resource 
left  to  him  if  he  wished  to  retain  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try, or  to  preserve  it  from  once  more  undergoing  all  the  hor- 
rors of  a  civil  war.  If  he  had  heard  of  the  doings  of  Philip 
II.  in  the  Netherlands  during  the  few  years  since  the  first 
arrival  of  these  foreign  priests  in  Japan,  he  might  have 
learned  lessons  of  more  decided  measures  for  refractory  sub- 
jects, and  have  carried  out  his  wishes  in  ridding  Japan  of 
them  by  a  more  summary  method  of  persecution. 

During  the  summer  of  1598  Taikosama  was  attacked  by 
dysentery,  and  was  so  ill  that  his  life  was  despaired  of.  His 
son  (real  or  supposed)  was  then  about  six  years  of  age.  He 
saw  that,  in  all  probability,  the  power,  after  leaving  his  own 
hands,  would  fall  into  those  of  lyeyas,  now  ruler  of  the  eight 
provinces  around  Yedo.  He  therefore  determined  to  strike 
up  a  family  alliance  between  his  son  and  the  granddaughter 
of  lyeyas,  thinking  he  would  thereby  induce  the  latter  to 
throw  his  whole  weight  into  the  scale  on  behalf  of  his  own 
grandchild  and  her  husband,  and  that  thus  the  power  would 
descend  to  his  own  family.  The  marriage  was  immediately 


160  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

celebrated ;  and  lyeyas  swore  that  he  would  turn  the  govern- 
ment over  to  -Taiko's  son  so  soon  as  he  was  able  to  rule  by 
himself.  Still  further  to  strengthen  the  party  of  his  son,  he 
appointed  five  governors  of  the  country  (as  Gotairo),  and 
four  others,  to  be  about  the  boy,  with  instructions  to  obey 
lyeyas,  to  acknowledge  his  son  as  sovereign  so  soon  as  he 
came  of  age,  to  continue  all  the  lords  in  their  places  as  he 
had  appointed,  and  to  oppose  all  innovations  on  the  laws 
now  established.  To  strengthen  the  position  of  his  son  still 
further,  he  appointed  boards  of  officers,  Tchiuro  and  Go- 
boonyo,  or  five  rulers. 

On  his  deathbed,  such  little  animosity  as  he  may  have 
had  toward  the  foreign  priests  seems  to  have  been  miti- 
gated, as  he  sent  for,  or  allowed,  Father  Rodriguez  to  visit 
him,  when  he  thanked  the  father  for  the  trouble  he  had  taken 
in  visiting  him  in  health  as  well  as  in  sickness. 

A  temporary  amendment  enabled  him  to  rouse  himself, 
when  his  chief  thoughts  ran  upon  strengthening  the  citadel 
of  Osaka,  where  17,000  houses  were  pulled  down  to  build  the 
wall,  which  was  a  league  in  circuit.  He  only  survived  a  few 
days,  dying  upon  September  15,  1598;  all  his  nobility,  ac- 
cording to  the  fathers,  "being  much  better  pleased  to  see 
him  on  the  list  of  dead  gods  than  in  the  land  of  living  men." 


CHAPTER   V 

GOVERNMENT    OF    IYEYAS 

WITH  the  removal  of  Taikosama,  the  hopes  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  party  revived. 

Once  more  the  keystone  of  the  arch  was  removed,  and 
the  ordinary  institutions  of  the  country  were  found  unequal 
to  the  crisis. 

The  deceased  ruler  had  foreseen  this,  and  had  made  such 
arrangements  as  he  could  to  strengthen  the  position  of  his 


GOVERNMENT   OF  IYEYAS.  161 

young  son.  He  foresaw  that  lyeyas  was  the  man  of  the 
future ;  the  man  most  fitted  by  talent,  military  capacity,  and 
position,  to  take  the  reins.  He  therefore  tried  to  bind  him 
by  ties  of  marriage,  as  well  as  by  oaths,  to  support  the  youth- 
ful inheritor  of  power.  He  had,  as  one  of  his  methods  of 
governing,  induced  or  compelled  the  nobles  to  lavish  large 
sums  of  money  in  presents  to  himself,  in  keeping  up  large 
retinues,  in  making  expensive  journeys  between  their  coun- 
try residences  and  the  capital,  and  in  building  palaces  in  the 
two  cities  of  Osaka  and  Fusimi.  By  these  means  the  nobles 
were  impoverished.  They  could  not  afford  to  keep  many 
armed  followers.  Mowori  of  Nagato  had  been  lately  com- 
pelled to  give  up  some  of  his  territories,  and  to  pay  his  re- 
spects at  the  court.  Satsuma  had  suffered  during  the  recent 
wars  in  Kiusiu.  lyeyas  alone  had  kept  aloof  from  Taiko- 
sama.  He  had  kept  his  court  and  established  himself  at 
Yedo,  where  he  was  allowed  to  remain  undisturbed,  an  object 
of  jealousy  as  well  as  of  fear.  Still  he  seems  to  have  been 
occasionally  about  the  court  of  Taikosama,  as  he  is  men- 
tioned in  one  of  the  letters  as  being  present  at  the  meeting 
of  Taiko  and  his  nephew.  He  perhaps  kept  Taikosama's 
mother  still  as  a  hostage  in  Yedo.  Each  of  these  potentates, 
in  all  probability,  knew  and  read  the  other's  thoughts — each 
thinking  that  the  territories  and  the  position  of  both  would 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  longest  liver.  The  most  dissem- 
bling are  often  the  most  credulous,  and  Taikosama  was  catch- 
ing at  a  straw  when  he  summoned  lyeyas  to  his  deathbed, 
lyeyas  had  refused  to  visit  him  on  a  former  occasion  with- 
out a  hostage  in  the  person  of  his  mother.  On  this  occasion 
he  came,  but,  no  doubt,  with  sufficient  precautions.  He  saw 
that  a  political  crisis  was  impending,  and  he  knew  that  the 
fruit  he  had  long  waited  for  was  falling  into  his  hands. 
There  was  little  reason  now  why  he  should  not  seize  it. 
The  only  persons  who  seem  not  to  have  descried  the 
change  that  was  at  hand  were  the  Roman  Catholic  fathers. 
By  their  own  letters  they  do  not  appear  to  have  paid  any 
court  to  the  sun  rising  in  the  east.  No  missions  are  men- 


162  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

tioned  to  Yedo,  or  in  the  Kwanto;  no  interpreter  is  sent  to 
the  court  of  lyeyas ;  no  conversions  are  spoken  of  there  as 
in  Miako  and  the  west;  and  no  priests  were  located  there, 
who  might  have  been  acceptable  if  they  had  been  able  to 
speak  in  the  dialect  of  the  eastern  provinces.  The  Jesuit 
fathers,  up  to  this  time,  had  rarely  mentioned  any  of  the 
provinces  east  of  Mino  or  Owarri. 

The  Taiko  had  put  to  death  his  nephew,  who  was  of  an 
age  fit  to  have  held  the  reins  after  his  departure.  He  left, 
as  successor,  Hideyori,  a  child  of  six  years  of  age.  The  gen- 
eral belief  was  that  this  child  was  not  the  son  of  Taiko,  but 
he  himself  appears  to  have  firmly  regarded  him  as  such. 
Recollecting  his  own  origin  and  rise  to  the  pinnacle  of  power, 
and  knowing  the  turbulent  spirits  among  the  lords,  his  coun- 
trymen, whom  he  had  all  his  life  long  been  trying  to  curb, 
it  is  little  wonder  that  he  felt  uneasy  at  the  prospect  opening 
up  to  this  child. 

The  Jesuits  of  this  time  write:  "As  to  religion,  there  was 
all  the  grounds  in  the  world  to  believe  it  in  a  fair  way  of 
being  established  in  Japan.  So  many  potent  kings  and  gen- 
eral officers  being  all  Christians  at  the  head  of  a  victorious 
army,  and  masters  of  Simo  (Kiusiu),  where  the  inhabitants 
had  all  embraced  the  faith,  it  was  only  prudence  in  the  re- 
gents (the  Gotairo),  who  were  divided  among  themselves, 
to  keep  fair  with  them.  Above  all,  Samburandono  (San- 
hoshi),  grandson  and  heir  of  Nobu  nanga,  having  lately 
professed  himself  a  Christian,  it  was  probable  the  Christians 
and  malcontents  would  join  in  these  divisions,  put  him  in 
possession  of  his  ancient  rights,  which  the  late  Taikosama 
had  unjustly  usurped.  The  faithful  began  to  breathe  after 
the  tyrant's  death." 

Probably  the  conversion  of  Sanhoshi  (if  true)  to  the  Chris- 
tian side  blinded  these  fathers  to  the  weakness  of  his  claims, 
and  to  the  weight,  power,  and  talents  of  lyeyas.  The  claims 
of  Sanhoshi  and  Hideyori  were  equally  weak.  Both  were 
the  heirs  of  men  who  had  risen  from  comparatively  low  rank 
and  seized  the  coveted  position,  which  had  been  hereditary 


GOVERNMENT   OF  IYEYAS.  163 

in  the  families  of  their  predecessors,  but  which,  having  been 
held  by  these  men,  their  fathers,  respectively  one  after  the 
other,  could  not  be  said  to  be  in  their  families  hereditary. 

The  first  step  taken  by  the  Gotairo,  or  five  governors  ap- 
pointed by  Taikosama  before  his  death,  and  who  now  assumed 
the  power  in  the  name  of  Hideyori,  was  the  recall  of  the  army 
from  Corea,  showing  how  much  the  whole  expedition  de- 
pended upon  the  will  of  the  one  man,  and  with  how  little 
favor  it  was  regarded  by  the  people  of  Japan.  This  brought 
back  to  the  island  of  Kiusiu  a  strong  re-enforcement  of  Chris- 
tians with  Don  Austin  at  their  head ;  and  his  bitter  foe,  Toro- 
nosuqui,  the  strong  opponent  of  the  Roman  Catholic  party. 

In  the  letters  written  by  the  Jesuits  at  this  period,  the 
Taiko  had  generally  been  spoken  of  as  the  Emperor,  and 
very  rarely  is  any  notice  taken  of  the  real  Emperor,  then 
living  at  Miako.  Still  less  notice  is  accorded  to  the  Shio- 
goon,  Yoshitaru,  who  was  then  living  at  Miako,  and  holding 
the  highest  hereditary  office  that  could  be  held  by  a  subject. 
He  was  of  the  Ashikanga  family,  and,  so  long  as  he  lived, 
neither  Nobu  nanga  nor  Taikosama  could  hold  this  office. 
In  1597  he  died,  and  the  office,  which  in  the  family  had  be- 
come an  empty  title,  was  not  conferred  on  any  of  his  rela- 
tions. The  family  is  still  represented  by  individuals  at  Miako, 
who,  though  receiving  some  privileges,  live  in  poverty  and 
obscurity.  The  death  of  this  man,  and  the  cessation  of  the 
hereditary  claim  to  the  office,  opportunely  opened  to  lyeyas 
the  prospect  of  combining  once  more  the  chief  power  with 
the  highest  hereditary  office  in  the  state. 

The  year  1599  is  given,  in  the  native  annals,  as  the  first 
year  in  which  the  English  and  Dutch  ships  visited  Japan 
(they  are  said  to  have  come  to  the  town  of  Saccai,  near 
Osaka).  Dutch  pilots  had  been  navigating  those  seas  dur- 
ing several  years  past;  some  of  the  accounts  given  by 
Linschoten  being  the  results  of  observations  by  Dutch- 
men. William  Adams,  the  English  pilot  of  the  Dutch 
fleet  of  five  sail,  which  left  the  Texel  on  June  24,  1598, 
did  not  reach  Boongo  till  April,  1600,  with  only  nine  or  ten 


164  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

men  surviving  out  of  the  crew,  and  these  nearly  worn  out 
with  scurvy  and  privations.  He  was  taken  to  Osaka,  where 
he  had  an  interview  with  lyeyas,  who  was  much  pleased 
with  him ;  but  the  jealousy  of  the  Portuguese  was  roused, 
and  they  tried  to  instill  into  the  ears  of  those  to  whom  they 
had  access  malicious  reports  against  these  newcomers. 

Meantime,  it  was  impossible  that  affairs  should  continue 
long  peaceably  on  the  present  critical  footing.  The  Jesuits, 
however,  were  elated  with  the  appearance  of  things.  "  (Giei- 
aso)  lyeyas  ko,*  now  called  Daifusama"  (another  name  for 
Nai  dai  jin),  "spoke  favorably  of  religion,  giving  them  leave 
to  exercise  their  religion  at  Nagasaki,  so  that  every  one 
thought  the  Society  re-established  in  the  exercise  of  her 
functions. 

"However,  it  was  not  long  before  the  governors  fell  at 
variance  among  themselves — Jiboo  no  sho  and  Asano  dan  jo 
in  the  first  place.  The  grudge  between  them  was  of  an  early 
date,  but  the  office  now  held  by  both  induced  them  to  come  to 
a  kind  of  agreement.  A  like  dissension  happened  among  the 
lieutenant-generals  in  Corea  about  the  late  treaty  of  peace, 
and  the  differences  ran  so  high  that  each  took  opposite  sides 
on  their  return  home — Don  Austin  and  his  followers  with 
Jiboo  no  sho,  and  the*  rest  with  Asano  dan  jo.  Several  of 
the  lords  and  Daifusama  himself  labored  hard  to  compose 
the  difference,  and  at  last  sentence  was  given  in  favor  of 
Jiboo  no  sho  and  his  party.  Asano  resolved  to  right  himself 
by  the  sword,  and  in  a  short  time  many  lords  came  over  to 
his  party.  Don  Austin,  with  Arima,  Omura,  Satsuma, 
Tchikugo,  and  Terazawa,  stuck  close  to  the  interest  of 
Jiboo  no  sho.  But  what  set  the  whole  kingdom  in  a  flame 
was  a  misunderstanding  between  Jiboo  no  sho  and  Daifu- 
sama, the  regent  of  the  empire.  The  former  charged  lyeyas 
with  assuming  an  air  of  authority,  and  with  secret  practices, 
as  if  he  intended  to  make  himself  master  of  the  imperial  do- 

*  Ko,  coming  after  a  name,  has  the  meaning  of  "a  high 
personage, ' '  a  title  of  honor. 


GOVERNMENT   OF  IYEYAS.  165 

main.  lyeyas  answered  these  complaints  of  the  governors 
with  a  great  deal  of  modesty  and  calmness,  and,  in  the  main, 
gave  a  fair  account  of  his  conduct.  But  finding  that  his  op- 
ponents were  levying  troops,  he  gathered  an  army  of  30,000 
men  out  of  his  own  states  to  prevent  a  surprise. 

"The  nobility  were  then  all  at  court,  part  at  Fusimi  and 
part  at  Osaka,  about  the  young  prince.  But  seeing  war  de- 
clared between  Jiboo  no  sho  and  the  regent,  every  one  armed 
himself  and  his  followers,  until  they  reckoned  in  the  two 
towns  200,000  combatants,  besides  inhabitants.  The  streets 
swarmed  with  soldiers,  and  nothing  was  looked  for  but  a 
grand  massacre.  But  it  being  enacted  that  whoever  first 
broke  the  peace  should  be  declared  an  enemy  to  the  state, 
it  was  each  one's  business  to  keep  from  hostilities.  In  this 
manner  they  continued  for  some  months  in  the  same  town, 
and  not  a  stroke  on  either  side.  At  last  Daifusama  being 
much  superior  to  his  adversary  (whom  most  deserted  to  serve 
the  regent),  he  sent  to  him  to  rip  up  his  belly  for  the  public 
good. 

"Don  Austin,  who  joined  interest  with  Jiboo  no  sho  (oth- 
erwise Ishida  mitzu  nari),  knew  very  well  that  would  not 
serve  Daif  usama's  turn,  unless,  at  the  same  time,  he  could 
involve  the  rest  of  his  party  in  the  same  ruin.  In  the  mean- 
time, Daifusama  seized  on  the  castle  of  Osaka  with  the  young 
prince  so  suddenly  that  neither  the  garrison,  nor  Jiboo  no 
sho,  who  lived  hard  by,  had  time  to  put  themselves  in  a 
posture  of  defense.  This  was  a  thunderbolt  to  the  latter, 
who  fled  to  Fusimi,  to  the  governors,  where  he  was  joined 
by  Don  Austin.  Daifusama  pursued  them,  and  a  tempo- 
rary peace  was  struck  up,  on  condition  that  Jiboo  no  sho 
gave  up  his  commission  and  retired  to  his  residence  in  the 
province  of  Omi.  He  took  a  son  of  Daifusama's  with  him 
as  hostage." 

After  this,  lyeyas  was  supreme,  the  governors  continu- 
ing to  retain  their  empty  titles.  The  Roman  Catholics  ap- 
plied to  lyeyas,  who  received  them  so  kindly  that  they  were 
generally  of  a  persuasion  that  he  intended  to  restore  the 


16G  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

churches  and  permit  the  fathers  to  preach  the  Gospel,  "so 
very  easy  are  we  to  believe  what  we  have  a  mind  should 
happen. ' ' 

However,  at  this  moment  they  were  annoyed  by  the  lord 
of  Firado  showing  symptoms  of  intolerance,  for  in  one  night 
six  hundred  Christians  left  the  island  and  came  to  Nagasaki, 
contrary  to  the  laws  and  edicts  of  Taikosama.  The  province 
of  Higo,  in  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  was  now  under  the  rule  of 
Don  Austin,  and  by  his  orders  the  inhabitants  were  being 
converted  or  coerced  into  Christianity. 

At  this  juncture  the  Emperor  was  a  mere  shadow.  The 
power  had  fallen  nominally  into  the  hands  of  a  boy.  The 
scepter,  or  seat  of  power,  was  at  the  disposal  of  the  most 
powerful.  The  respect  for,  or  fears  of,  the  lately  deceased 
ruler  had  not  died  out ;  and  the  carrying  out  of  his  wishes, 
and  the  establishment  of  this  boy  in  his  place,  was  the  al- 
leged intention  of  each  of  the  contending  parties.  The  one 
party  was  made  up  of  those  chiefs  or  lords  who  had  been 
about  Taikosama  during  his  life,  and  had  been  appointed  to 
high  offices  under  him,  such  as  the  five  governors  or  regents 
for  his  son.  To  these  were  added  those  who  had  been  en- 
gaged as  commanders  in  the  Corean  wars,  of  whom  Satsuma 
and  Konishi  were  the  ablest  and  most  powerful,  the  latter 
being  looked  upon  as  the  greatest  soldier  of  his  day. 

On  the  other  side,  lyeyas  had  evidently  determined  that 
the  boy,  now  his  grandson  by  marriage,  should  not  stand  in 
the  way  of  his  own  advancement  to  power  and  position,  and 
that  he  should  be  made  the  ladder  by  which  he  might  reach 
his  object. 

The  empire  again  resounded  with  the  preparations  for 
war.  "Daifusama  was  grown  so  absolute  since  the  late 
troubles  at  Osaka  and  Menco  that  he  acted  and  did  all  by 
himself,  none  daring  so  much  as  dispute  his  commands. 
This  sore  perplexed  the  governors  and  mortified  them  to 
the  quick ;  however,  as  soon  as  Jiboo  no  sho  was  retired  [to 
his  castle  of  Sawoyama,  by  orders  of  lyeyas],  they  all  re- 
turned back  to  Osaka  and  Fusimi,  Cangeraf  u  only  excepted, 


GOVERNMENT  OF  IYEYAS.  167 

who  pretended  a  grant  from  Taikosama  to  live  three  years 
in  his  own  states."  This  was  probably  Ooyay  soongi  kange 
katzu  of  Etsingo,  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  powerful 
of  the  lords,  and  to  him  lyeyas  sent  orders  to  repair  imme- 
diately to  the  young  prince  on  pain  of  being  prosecuted  as 
an  enemy  to  the  state.  The  confederates  were  trying  to 
divide  the  forces  of  their  opponent,  and  to  gain  by  stratagem 
what  he  was  beginning  to  feel  himself  able  to  obtain  by  the 
open  assertion  and  display  of  power.  He  had  possession  of 
the  castle  of  Osaka  and  of  the  town  of  Fusimi.  In  the  latter 
he  left  his  son  with  a  garrison.  The  confederate  lords  hoped 
to  seize  those  places  so  soon  as  lyeyas  left  them.  Letters 
were  dispatched  to  Jiboo  no  sho  and  to  Konishi,  who  imme- 
diately joined  the  league,  "having  no  other  intention  but  to 
keep  their  promise  with  Taikosama,  and  to  preserve  the  crown 
for  the  young  prince."  They  tried  to  draw  over  the  head 
officers  of  "Daifusama's  army;  and  all  things  being  in  readi- 
ness, they  wheeled  round  upon  Osaka,  and  so  secured  most 
of  the  nobility  to  their  party.  The  governors,  flushed  with 
their  success,  sent  a  manifesto  to  Daifusama,  with  heavy 
complaints  of  his  conduct.  They  commanded  him  to  return 
to  Quanto,  and  positively  forbade  him  the  court." 

The  governors  at  the  same  time  ordered  all  persons  in  his 
army  to  return  to  their  posts  or  homes  on  the  penalty  of  pun- 
ishment falling  on  their  relatives  and  property.  This  order 
brought  about  the  death  of  a  Christian  lady,  Grace,  wife  of 
Itowo  Tango  no  kami,  one  of  the  commanders  in  the  army 
of  lyeyas,  of  whom  the  Jesuits  speak  as  a  miracle  of  beauty 
and  piety.  Her  husband  having  joined  the  army  of  lyeyas, 
left  command  with  his  servants  that,  in  case  of  any  such 
order  being  issued  and  put  in  force,  they  were  to  cut  off  his 
wife's  head.  His  orders  were  obeyed.  His  chief  servant 
informed  his  mistress,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  of  his  master's 
orders.  He,  falling  on  his  knees,  begged  pardon  for  what 
he  was  about  to  do,  promising  to  revenge  her  by  his  and  his 
fellow-servants'  suicide.  With  one  blow  he  cut  off  her  head, 
and,  thinking  it  indecent  to  die  in  the  same  room  as  their 


1G8  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

mistress,  they  retired  to  another,  where  they  cut  open  their 
bellies,  while  one  of  them  set  fire  to  the  powder,  and  blew 
up  the  part  of  the  palace  in  which  they  were  lying. 

The  army  of  the  league  now  numbered  100,000  men.  The 
chiefs  determined  to  attack  the  citadel  of  Fusimi.  They  con- 
trived to  set  it  on  fire,  and  in  a  few  hours  was  consumed  "this 
splendid  and  last  monument  of  Taikosama's  greatness,  the 
richest  and  noblest  palace  in  all  Japan."  After  this  they 
felt  themselves  strong  enough  to  take  the  field,  and  hazard 
a  battle,  if  necessary,  which  should  decide  the  fate  of  par- 
ties. "There  was  this  difference  betwixt  the  regents'  and 
the  governors'  troops :  The  first,  being  under  one  supreme 
head,  acted  vigorously  and  with  unanimous  consent ;  whereas 
the  other,  depending  on  several  masters,  and  having  each 
separate  interests,  the  whole  time  was  spent  in  marches  and 
countermarches  to  no  manner  of  purpose." 

lyeyas  laid  siege  to  Gifoo,  the  fortress  of  Hide  nobu  or 
Saburo  dono,  the  nephew  of  Nobu  nanga,  in  the  province 
of  Mino.  By  a  stratagem  and  ambuscade  he  routed  the 
army,  completely  destroying  it,  and  entered  and  seized  the 
castle,  taking  prisoner  Hide  nobu.  He  then  turned  back 
westward  to  meet  the  army  of  the  governors,  which  was 
lying  on  the  west  of  the  plain  and  village  of  Sekingaharra. 
The  army  of  his  opponents  had  been  re-enforced  by  the 
troops  of  Satsuma  and  of  Konishi.  This  plain  is  to  the  east 
side  of  the  hills  which  form  the  east  wall  of  the  Lake  of 
Owomi.  One  hill  of  this  ridge,  Ee  buki  yama,  is  still  noted 
for  the  foreign  plants  which  grow  upon  its  sides,  the  result 
or  remains  of  the  labors  of  the  Portuguese  missionaries  who 
had  a  residence  upon  the  hill.  From  this  hill  flows  to  the 
east  the  waters  of  the  Kiaso  gawa.  One  of  the  main  roads 
of  Japan,  the  Naka  sen  do,  passes  through  this  plain  from 
east  to  west,  and  at  the  village  of  Sekingaharra  another  road 
crosses  the  former  from  the  northwest.  Here  on  this  plain 
the  two  armies  met ;  but  before  the  most  decisive  battle  in 
Japanese  history  was  fought  they  lay  thirty  days  facing  one 
another,  "and  durst  not  strike  a  stroke." 


GOVERNMENT   OF   IYEYAS.  169 

The  army  of  the  league  numbered  80,000  men,  while  that 
of  lyeyas  could  only  muster  50,000.  Each  party  had  been 
engaged  in  trying  to  gain  over  some  of  their  opponents  be- 
fore trusting  to  the  fate  of  war.  lyeyas  had  been  delayed 
by  his  enemies  in  the  eastern  provinces ;  but  hearing  of  the 
position  of  affairs  at  Sekingaharra,  he  marched  rapidly  up, 
and  in  October,  1600,  joined  his  army  with  a  considerable 
re-enforcement  of  troops.  His  motions  were  so  rapid  and 
so  secret  that  his  opponents  were  not  aware  of  his  being  in 
the  province.  The  following  day  he  commenced  an  attack 
upon  the  army  of  the  governors,  commanded  by  Jiboo  no 
sho  and  Don  Austin.  "No  sooner  had  the  armies  begun 
to  move  than  several  of  the  general  officers,  with  the  troops 
under  their  command,  marched  straight  over  to  the  side  of 
lyeyas,  which  put  the  rest  of  the  army  in  such  consternation 
that,  instead  of  fighting,  they  turned  tail  and  fled  without 
looking  behind  them.  Daifusama,  perceiving  them  in  dis- 
order, gave  word  for  his  men  to  advance ;  and  making  his 
way  through  the  lines,  which  made  very  little  opposition, 
gained  a  complete  victory  almost  without  the  trouble  of 
striking  one  stroke  for  it.  None  besides  the  general  officers 
and  some  of  the  leading  men  had  the  courage  to  face  the 
enemy  at  the  first  onset.  These  partly  dispatched  them- 
selves, partly  were  killed  by  the  enemy,  and  partly  were 
taken  prisoners.  Among  these  latter  was  the  celebrated 
Don  Austin.  This  great  hero,  seeing  his  men  in  a  rout, 
and  no  possibility  of  rallying  again,  threw  himself  into  the 
midst  of  the  enemy's  troops,  slaying  on  every  side,  and  bear- 
ing all  down  before  him,  till,  wounded  from  head  to  foot, 
and  overpowered  by  numbers,  he  was  forced  to  yield  to  fate 
and  surrender  himself  prisoner,  together  with  Jiboo  110  sho, 
who  had  not  the  heart  (as  he  confessed  himself  afterward) 
to  open  his  belly  after  the  example  of  the  worthies  above 
mentioned. 

"As  for  Don  Austin,  nothing  but  conscience  could  possi- 
bly have  hindered  him  from  such  an  attempt ;  and  therefore 
choosing,  as  he  did,  to  pass  for  heartless  and  a  coward,  and 


170  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

to  expose  himself  to  an  ignominious  death  rather  than  offend 
God,  was  an  action  of  the  first  rate,  worthy  to  be  found  upon 
the  roll  in  the  history  of  his  other  heroical  exploits."  The 
native  account  would  make  out  that  Don  Austin  attempted 
to  escape  from  the  field  of  battle,  taking  the  road  leading  to 
the  residence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  on  the  hill  of 
Ee  buki  yama,  but  was  taken  prisoner  before  reaching  a 
place  of  safety. 

The  immediate  result  of  this  very  decisive  victory  was 
to  blow  to  the  winds  the  rope  of  sand  which  his  enemies  had 
been  endeavoring  to  coil  round  lyeyas.  His  opponents  were 
scattered  and  then'  hands  paralyzed.  lyeyas  was  master  of 
the  situation.  He  lost  no  time  in  marching  westward  to 
gain  possession  of  Osaka.  He  seized  Sawoyama,  a  castle 
then  belonging  to  Jiboo  no  sho,  and  now  known  as  Hiko- 
nay,  the  residence  of  Ee  kamong  no  kami.  The  brother  of 
the  proprietor  was  in  command  of  the  place.  He  put  to 
death  all  the  women  and  children,  and  set  fire  to  the  house, 
to  take  from  the  enemy  the  honor  of  leading  him  in  triumph. 
Mowori  was  in  command  at  Osaka,  and,  as  ruler  over  ten 
provinces,  he  was  now  the  only  chief  who  was  likely  to  dis- 
pute with  lyeyas  the  position  of  regent.  But  he  was  panic- 
struck,  and,  though  at  the  head  of  40,000  men,  gave  up  the 
place  and  surrendered  to  the  conqueror,  who  immediately 
entered  the  town  in  a  kind  of  triumph,  and  soon  after  all 
Japan  submitted  to  his  government.  He  was,  in  truth,  now 
the  monarch  of  Japan.  The  Emperor  was  in  existence,  but 
this  was  only  known  near  Miako  by  the  titles  which  he  occa- 
sionally conferred  on  those  about  his  court. 

Hideyori,  the  boy  representative  of  Taikosama,  was  only 
seven  years  of  age,  and  had  no  very  strong  claim  to  be  con- 
sidered that  potentate's  successor,  a  position  which  he  could 
not  hold  without  the  assistance  of  lyeyas,  his  wife's  grand- 
father, lyeyas  had  felt  that  the  peace  of  the  state  was  de- 
pending upon  him,  and  that,  from  the  position  which  the 
regents  had  taken  up,  either  he  or  they  must  yield,  and 
neither  would  give  way  without  an  appeal  to  arms.  The 


GOVERNMENT  OF  IYEYAS.  171 

Jesuits  seem  all  along  to  have  shown  a  want  of  foresight  in 
omitting  to  see  that  he  was  the  coming  man,  and  made  a 
mistake  in  placing  their  trust  in  Don  Austin,  whose  position 
was  now  to  them  a  source  of  great  anxiety. 

Into  the  late  war  there  does  not  seem  to  have  entered 
any  religious  element  of  discord,  as  Christians  of  rank  were 
found  upon  both  sides.  The  lords  of  Arima  and  Omura  and 
Kahi  no  kami  (who  is  frequently  mentioned  by  the  Jesuit 
writers)  were  in  the  army  of  lyeyas,  while  Don  Austin 
and  others  took  the  opposite  side. 

Ishida,  Jiboo  no  sho,  being  now  a  prisoner,  was  not 
likely  to  receive  much  mercy  at  the  hands  of  lyeyas.  Let- 
ters had  passed  between  them  which  reduced  their  position 
to  a  personal  quarrel.  He  had  already  been  once  spared  by 
his  foe,  and  had  retired  on  parole  to  his  castle  of  Sawoyama. 
Thinking  that  an  opportunity  for  revenge  had  arrived,  he 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  army  of  the  confederates.  He 
had  again  failed,  and  now  found  himself  a  prisoner  in  an 
ignominious  and  dishonorable  position.  But  Konishi  Setsu, 
or  Tsu  no  kami,  also  a  prisoner,  ran  the  risk  of  losing  his 
life,  more  probably  from  jealousy  of  his  military  capacity 
than  from  any  other  reason.  He  was  the  son  of  a  drug 
merchant  in  Sakkai.  The  eulogiums  pronounced  upon  him 
by  the  Christian  writers  may  pass  for  what  each  values 
them  at ;  but  he  had  been  trusted  in  a  very  responsible  posi- 
tion by  Taikosama  in  Corea.  He  had  subsequently  been 
degraded  at  the  instigation  of  his  rivals,  and  afterward  re- 
instated for  the  accomplishment  of  schemes  requiring  the 
utmost  acuteness  in  diplomacy,  as  well  as  for  the  execu- 
tion of  plans  requiring  military  skill  and  prowess.  He  had 
shown  himself  capable  of  both.  As  an  evidence  of  the  posi- 
tion to  which  he  had  raised  himself  was  the  marriage  of  his 
son  to  the  granddaughter  of  lyeyas  himself.  He  had  been 
appointed  to  the  office  then  known  as  viceroy  of  the  island  of 
Kiusiu,  and  was  at  the  same  time  commander-in-chief  both 
of  the  naval  and  military  forces  in  the  Corean  war.  Had 
lyeyas  acted  with  his  ordinary  clemency  and  judgment,  he 


172  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

would  after  his  victory  have  pardoned  such  a  rival  and  fam- 
ily connection;  but  there  were  hungry  wolves  who  person- 
ally hated  Don  Austin,  who  gloated  over  his  downfall,  and 
cast  longing  eyes  on  his  territories,  about  to  be  confiscated. 
Chief  of  these  was  Toronosuqui,  "Vir  ter  execrandus,"  as  the 
Jesuits  style  him,  one  of  the  coarsest  men  of  Japanese  his- 
tory, but  since  his  death  canonized  as  a  saint  in  the  Japanese 
calendar  as  Say  sho  go  sama  of  the  Nitchi  ren  sect  of  Bud- 
dhists. Hitherto  known  by  this  name  of  Toronosuqui,  he 
figures  in  the  subsequent  letters  of  the  Jesuits  as  Canzuge 
dono,  or  properly,  as  the  title  now  is,  Kazuyay  no  kami. 

After  his  capture  Konishi  seems  to  have  been  treated 
with  great  rigor — not  being  allowed  to  see  any  of  his  rela- 
tives or  any  foreign  priest — and  was  beheaded,  along  with 
the  Jiboo  no  sho,  at  Awata  ngootchi,  the  common  execution 
ground  at  Miako.  His  young  son  was  shortly  afterward 
inveigled  and  murdered  by  Mowori,  who  thought  to  please 
lyeyas  and  save  himself,  after  his  mean  surrender  of  himself 
and  his  position,  by  sending  the  head  of  Don  Austin's  child 
to  his  wife's  grandfather;  but  lyeyas  was  disgusted,  and 
Mowori  in  the  end  was  stripped  of  the  greater  part  of  his 
possessions. 

Native  writers  agree  with  the  Jesuit  accounts  in  giving 
lyeyas  credit  for  great  moderation  and  sagacity  in  the  use 
of  the  power  which  had  fallen  into  his  hands.  Thinking 
himself  firmly  seated,  he  tried  to  make  all  know  that  he 
wished  the  past  to  be  forgotten — that  he  was  not  angry 
with  those  who  had  been  in  arms  against  him,  but  that  he 
was  grieved  that  it  had  been  necessary  that  so  much  blood 
should  have  been  shed.  He  granted  an  amnesty  to  all  who 
would  accept  of  it ;  and  even  some — such  as  Tatchibanna — 
who  were  not  very  influential,  and  who  would  neither  accept 
of  it  nor  submit  to  him,  he  left  quietly  alone  to  allow  time 
to  work.  The  great  secret  of  his  power  seems  to  have  been, 
that  when  he  once  made  a  promise  he  never  broke  it,  and 
the  most  perfect  reliance  was  placed  upon  his  word.  "In 
effect,  Daifusama,  being  naturally  of  a  meek  and  oasy  tern- 


GOVERNMENT   OF   IYEYAS.  173 

per,  took  quite  different  methods  from  Taikosama,  who  had 
rendered  himself  extremely  odious  by  his  cruel  and  severe 
oppressions.  He  proposed  to  himself  to  govern  more  by 
love  than  fear;  and  therefore,  contrary  to  the  maxims  of  his 
predecessor,  pardoned  several  of  the  lords  that  bore  arms 
against  him.  Moreover,  he  sent  a  pardon  to  Don  Austin's 
lady  and  daughter  (who  expected,  according  to  law,  to  have 
shared  his  fate),  as  also  to  his  brethren  and  their  children; 
and,  what  is  more,  he  did  not  show  any  resentment  to  the 
fathers  for  being  constant  to  the  interests  of  Don  Austin,  or 
for  harboring  his  lady  at  the  time  of  her  retreat  at  Nanga 
saki."  The  only  unsettled  portion  of  the  empire  was  the 
island  of  Kiusiu.  The  territory  of  Don  Austin  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Higo  was  handed  over  to  Katto  Kiomassa,  or  Toro- 
nosuqui,  who,  as  has  been  said,  was  a  virulent  opponent  of 
the  Christian  religion.  While  Don  Austin  held  this  terri- 
tory, by  the  advice  of  his  spiritual  superiors,  every  one  had 
been  compelled  to  be  baptized  and  turn  Christian,  or  to  leave 
the  territory.  It  was  now  the  turn  of  the  opposite  party  to 
use  the  same  tactics,  and  most  mercilessly  they  followed  the 
example  set  by  these  Spanish  priests  both  in  Japan  and  in 
Europe. 

Satsuma,  who  had  escaped  from  the  field  of  Sekinga- 
harra,  expected  that  the  weight  of  the  victor's  wrath  would 
shortly  fall  upon  him,  and  he  prepared  for  it.  The  subjec- 
tion of  Kiusiu  was  intrusted  to  Kuroda  Kahi  no  kami  and 
Terasawa  Sima  no  kami,  with  the  lesser  lords  who  had  ter- 
ritories in  the  island.  Satsuma  was  obliged  to  yield,  and 
submitted  to  lyeyas,  receiving  back  from  him  the  greater 
part  of  the  territory  then  held  by  him. 

The  part  of  the  island  of  Nippon  east  of  the  barrier  of 
Hakonay,  in  the  province  of  Segami,  is  commonly  called 
Kwanto;  and  the  Hasshiu,  or  eight  provinces  beyond  the 
boundary  toward  the  east  part  of  the  island,  had  more  or 
less  for  many  years  been  under  the  entire  rule  of  lyeyas. 
Kamakura,  which  had  at  one  period  been  a  rival  to  Miako 
as  a  second  capital,  had  fallen  into  decay.  Odawarra,  the 


174  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

castle  of  the  Hojio  family,  at  the  head  of  the  same  bay,  had 
never  risen  to  any  position  as  a  central  city.  The  Nishi 
maro,  a  part  of  the  castle  of  Yedo,  had  formerly  been  built 
and  occupied  by  Owota  do  kwang,  whose  memory  is  to  this 
day  cherished  in  Japan,  and  his  name  and  writings  are  still 
extant  on  some  parts  of  his  castle  or  shiro.  On  a  summer 
house  in  the  garden  of  the  castle  is  a  couplet  in  poetry  which 
is  looked  upon  as  a  prophecy  of  coming  events  with  refer- 
ence to  its  accomplishment  in  the  present  age: 

"From  this  window  I  look  upon  Fusiyama, 
With  its  snow  of  a  thousand  years. 
To  my  gate  ships  will  come  from  the  far  East 
Ten  thousand  miles. ' ' 

Considering  the  associations  which  hung  around  Miako  and 
Narra  and  Osaka  as  the  capitals,  imperial,  ecclesiastical  and 
commercial  of  the  empire,  it  might  be  deemed  a  great  stretch 
of  power  and  firm  confidence  in  himself  and  the  stability 
of  his  system  of  government,  that  lyeyas  should  think  of 
removing  the  location  of  the  executive  to  Yedo.  He  had 
doubtless  pondered  long  and  deeply  over  the  best  system 
of  government  for  the  country.  He  had  seen  the  anarchy 
which  preceded  the  rise  of  Nobu  nanga  to  power;  he  had 
seen  the  want  of  system  by  which  the  structure  of  govern- 
ment at  that  time  had  crumbled  down  with  the  fall  of  the 
one  man  upon  whose  shoulders  it  had  been  supported;  he 
had  all  the  experience  since  that  time  to  be  gained  from  rul- 
ing an  extensive  territory  of  his  own,  combined  with  what 
observations  he  might  make  upon  the  system  of  Taikosama. 
In  the  settling  of  that  system,  doubtless,  he  had  a  large 
share ;  but  he  went  further  than  Taikosama,  and,  disregard- 
ing the  old  associations  connected  with  Miako,  he  removed 
the  seat  of  the  executive  to  his  own  provinces  and  to  his  own 
court  in  the  city  of  Yedo,  in  what  was  considered  a  remote 
part  of  the  empire,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  looked 
upon  as  rude  and  unpolished,  and  regarded  with  contempt 
as  savages  of  the  east — "Azuma  yebis."  The  city,  when 


GOVERNMENT    OF  IYEYAS.  175 

lyeyas  first  took  possession  of  the  shiro,  consisted  only  of 
one  street,  known  then  and  now  as  Koji  matchi.  It  had 
increased  very  much  in  size  under  his  care,  and  through 
the  residence  of  the  court,  the  Daimios,  and  their  wives 
and  families,  and  in  no  long  time  became  a  city  of  commer- 
cial importance.  Although  Yoritomo,  and  the  Shiogoons 
and  Kwanreis  who  succeeded  him,  held  court  at  Kamakura 
and  in  the  Kwanto,  no  one  had  ever  called  upon  the  great 
feudal  lords,  or  Daimios,  as  we  may  now  call  them,  to  reside 
or  keep  up  establishments  there ;  but  lyeyas  seemed  to  think 
that  in  an  empire  like  Japan,  without  external  foes,  strength 
would  be  gained  by  a  division  of  the  empire.  All  his  plans 
seem  to  have  had  regard  to  the  welfare  and  peace  of  the 
country  rather  than  the  gratification  of  ambition,  which  he 
never  allowed  to  master  his  judgment. 

This  year  (1600)  and  the  following  lyeyas  devoted  to  in- 
ternal improvements,  especially  in  the  highways  of  the  em- 
pire. The  road  between  the  two  capitals,  Yedo  and  Miako, 
was  greatly  improved.  He  arranged  the  stations  (tsoongi, 
or  shooku),  to  the  number  of  fifty-three,  at  nearly  equal  dis- 
tances along  the  road,  for  the  accommodation  of  Daimios 
and  others  traveling  on  official  business.  The  Do  chioo,  or 
laws  of  the  roads,  were  laid  down,  regulating  the  traffic,  but 
more  especially  the  movements  and  service  of  these  lords 
when  traveling. 

In  the  year  1603  to  lyeyas  was  given  the  hereditary  title 
and  power  of  Se  i  dai  shiogoon,  or  tranquilizer  of  barbarians 
and  commander-in-chief .  The  last  who  had  held  this  office 
was  Y"oshikanga  Yoshiteru,  who  died  in  1597.  Hideyori 
was  made  Naidaijori. 


176  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HISTORY   TO   THE   EXPULSION   OF   CHRISTIANITY 

THIS  termination  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  in  Japan 
one  of  the  most  notable  time-marks  in  the  history  of  the  em- 
pire. It  was  an  era  at  which  a  long  series  of  intestine  broils 
and  of  civil  war  came  to  an  end,  and  gave  way  to  an  unex- 
ampled period  of  peace  and  happiness.  Indirectly,  Japan 
was  affected  by  changes  of  greater  ultimate  results  which 
had  commenced  long  before  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  world. 

Portugal,  in  the  zenith  of  its  maritime  glory  and  power, 
had  hitherto  retained  in  her  own  hands  the  navigation  and 
the  trade  of  the  East.  Bold  as  these  early  navigators  were, 
the  accounts  given  of  their  proceedings  show  them  to  have 
conjoined,  in  strange  recklessness,  religion  with  war,  trade 
with  piracy — "the  sweet  yoke"  of  their  own  ideas  of  govern- 
ment with  ferocious  cruelty  to  every  one  opposed  to  them. 
Perhaps  this  was  to  some  extent  necessary,  when  the  health 
and  prowess  of  a  few  men,  not  easily  replaced  in  case  of  loss, 
were  opposed  to  the  climate  and  weight  of  numbers  whose 
losses  could  easily  be  recruited  by  others  equally  useless  and 
contemptible  as  foes.  Grotius  says  of  Englishmen  of  that 
time,  that  they  obey  like  slaves  and  govern  like  tyrants. 
Toward  the  latter  part  of  the  century,  the  bigotry  of  Philip 
II.  was  raising  powers  against  him  in  Europe,  before  which 
the  then  colossal  but  unwieldy  empire  under  his  rule  was 
destined  to  crumble  to  pieces.  The  same  intolerant  policy 
which  his  emissaries  in  Japan  were  pursuing  was  being  car- 
ried out  by  the  old  man,  in  the  conscientious  belief  that  he 
was  furthering  and  hastening  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  by 


TO    THE   EXPULSION  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  177 

fierce  persecution  and  diabolical  atrocities.  The  dreams 
which  led  men  to  undertake  long  voyages  to  America  in 
the  pursuit  of  a  Utopia,  infused  a  new  spirit  of  boldness 
and  adventure  into  the  navigators  of  maritime  countries. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Ref  ormation  and  the  changes  in  the 
religious  ideas  among  the  people  of  Europe,  and  especially 
in  Holland,  England,  and  for  a  time  in  France,  tended  to 
throw  contempt  on  the  concessions  and  grants  and  privileges 
given  by  the  Pope  to  Portugal,  and  by  which  their  trade  to 
the  East  was  up  to  that  time  hedged  in. 

In  1577  Sir  Francis  Drake  broke  in  upon  this  monopoly; 
and  the  Spaniards  complained  of  the  English  infringing  their 
rights,  granted  by  the  Pope,  by  sailing  in  the  Eastern  seas. 

The  Portuguese  vessels  which  traded  with  the  East  had 
hitherto  carried  their  produce  to  Lisbon  or  Cadiz,  and  thence 
it  was  carried  to  the  coasts  of  Europe  by  the  Dutch  and 
English.  But  when  war  broke  out  between  these  countries, 
Philip,  thinking  to  clip  the  wings  of  his  enemies,  interdicted 
this  trade.  This  compelled  them  to  take  a  longer  flight,  and 
seek  Eastern  commodities  at  the  fountain-head.  The  navies 
of  the  Dutch  and  Portuguese  came  into  collision  on  the  East- 
ern seas,  and  the  former  were  victorious,  and  one  after  an- 
other of  the  large  Portuguese  carracks  fell  to  the  English 
and  Dutch  privateers. 

In  1599  the  East  India  Company  of  England  was  set  on 
foot,  and  commenced  operations,  after  being  nearly  arrested 
by  the  English  government  to  please  the  Spaniards,  by  ac- 
knowledging their  rights  in  the  Eastern  seas;  and  in  1598 
the  Dutch  fleet  sailed,  of  which  William  Adams  of  Gilling- 
hana  was  pilot. 

According  to  native  accounts,  in  the  sixth  year  of  Kay 
cho  English  vessels  came  to  Ike  no  oora;  but  one  of  these 
was  wrecked  during  a  gale  in  the  Sea  of  Segami.  A  mes- 
sage was  dispatched  from  Yedo  to  order  the  crew  to  be  sent 
there.  Among  them  was  Adams.  He  remained  in  Yedo, 
but  the  others  returned. 

The  vessels  belonging  to  the  East  India  Company  sailed 


178  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

from  England  upon  the  eighth  voyage,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Saris,  in  1611,  with  the  intention  of  opening  a 
trade  with  Japan.  There  seemed  at  this  time  every  pros- 
pect of  the  Portuguese  monopoly  being  broken  up,  and  of 
the  trade  of  this  distant  country  being  thrown  open  to  the 
Western  world.  Amid  the  broils  and  quarrels  with  which 
Japan  was  torn,  whether  among  the  lords,  or  between  the 
Buddhists  and  Roman  Catholics,  or  the  natives  and  Port- 
uguese merchants,  or  the  Portuguese  and  Dutch  and  En- 
glish, it  is  curious  to  see  the  practical  and  sound  good  sense 
of  one  man,  putting  him  into  a  position  of  eminence  and 
trust,  when  all  around  him  was  deceit  and  jealousy.  Ris- 
ing, after  five  years  of  obscurity  and  hardship,  on  the  ground 
of  his  simple  strength  of  character  and  practical  training, 
William  Adams  seems  to  have  become  the  trusted  confidant 
and  referee  of  lyeyas  on  foreign  questions.  Residing  in 
Yedo,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Nihon  bashi,  or  bridge 
of  Japan,  the  street  where  he  lived  retains  to  this  day  the 
distinguishing  name  of  "The  Pilot's,"  or  Anjin.  He  seems 
to  have  afterward  removed  to  the  street  Yaiyossu,  in  close 
proximity  to  the  castle  moat. — Both  Anjin  and  Yaiyossu 
may  be  corruptions  of  the  name  Adams.  In  Cantonese  dia- 
lect, an  cham  is  a  word  for  a  compass,  and  "Adams"  might 
be  written  with  these  characters. — Here  his  knowledge  of 
geometry,  navigation  and  mathematics,  with  some  acquaint- 
ance with  shipbuilding,  brought  him  under  the  notice  of 
lyeyas,  by  whom  he  seems  to  have  been  employed  as  inter- 
preter, shipbuilder,  and  general  confidant  on  foreign  affairs. 
He  was  ultimately  raised  to  the  position  of  a  small  Hatta- 
moto,  or  lesser  baron,  with  ground  equal  to  the  support  of 
eighty  or  ninety  families,  besides  his  own  rental.  This  estate 
is  said,  in  one  of  the  letters  from  Japan,  to  be  in  Segami, 
and  to  have  been  named  Fibi,  and  situated  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Ooraga,  the  port  of  Yedo,  and  must  certainly  be 
known  to  the  Japanese  government  as  having  belonged  to 
the  English  officer. 

Doubtless,  by  all  these  changes,  the  position  of  the  Port- 


TO    THE   EXPULSION  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  179 

uguese  and  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  was  changed  hi 
Japan.  The  converts  of  Nagasaki  would  see  foreigners  com- 
ing who  paid  no  respect  to  the  priests  and  bishops  whom 
they  had  been  taught  to  reverence.  The  powers  in  the 
country  would  begin  to  see  that  the  profits  of  the  trade 
could  be  enjoyed  without  winking  at  the  coercion  of  their 
own  people  to  a  foreign  religion,  and  which  placed  them  at 
the  disposal  of  a  power  exterior  to  the  state.  The  English 
and  Dutch  tried  to  loosen  the  hold  which  their  rivals  had  in 
the  good  opinion  of  their  customers;  and  the  eyes  of  the 
Japanese  were  thus  opened  to  the  evils  of  admitting  for- 
eigners to  their  shores,  who  were  likely  to  prove  centers  of 
disaffection  and  to  instill  ideas  of  freedom  and  lawlessness 
among  the  subjects  of  the  empire. 

The  letters  of  the  Jesuits  throw  their  own  light  upon  the 
state  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Japan  at  the  differ- 
ent points  where  churches  or  seminaries  had  been  erected, 
and  it  may  thence  be  gathered  in  what  manner  they  treated 
their  neighbors,  or  those  over  whom  they  could  pretend  to 
assume  any  power.  On  the  other  hand,  from  the  narratives 
given  by  Cocks  and  Saris,  some  idea  of  the  position  of  the 
seafaring  communities  at  Firado  and  Nagasaki,  and  other 
ports,  may  be  obtained.  These  seaports  seem  to  have  been 
too  often  the  resorts  of  the  lowest  class  of  adventurers.  The 
result  was  uproars,  broils  and  murders  among  the  foreign- 
ers, requiring  ever  and  anon  the  intervention  of  the  native 
authorities. 

lyeyas  was  in  all  probability  ignorant  of  all  these  circum- 
stances, which  were  effecting  an  indirect  change  upon  those 
resorting  to  the  country.  At  the  Roman  Catholic  party  he 
had  aimed  an  effectual  blow  by  putting  the  leading  man  of 
the  party,  Don  Austin,  out  of  the  way  on  grounds  totally 
unconnected  with  his  religion.  And  the  foreign  priests  do 
not  seem  to  have  given  him  personally  much  concern  at  this 
time.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Miako  they  did  not  dare  of 
late  to  make  any  public  displays.  In  1604  there  were  of  the 
Jesuits  120  in  Japan.  They  flattered  themselves  that  "as 


180  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

for  religion,  it  flourished  everywhere,  and  made  vast  prog- 
ress through  all  the  kingdoms  under  so  easy  and  peaceable 
a  government.  Notwithstanding,  two  obstacles  still  existed 
— the  one  Taikosama's  edict,  and  the  other  the  vices  of  the 
people.  But  what  gave  our  religion  most  reputation  was 
the  gracious  reception  the  Cubo  himself  [lyeyas]  was  pleased 
to  give  the  fathers  of  the  Society. "  The  Jesuits  had  recently 
extended  their  mission  to  the  extreme  north  of  Japan,  and 
even  into  the  islands  of  Yezo  and  Sado. 

During  this  and  the  previous  year  the  Jesuits  were  un- 
fortunate, inasmuch  as  the  vessels  bringing  the  yearly  sup- 
plies, as  well  as  the  large  annual  carrack  from  Macao  to 
Japan,  were  taken  by  the  Dutch  privateers;  but  lyeyas, 
hearing  of  their  loss,  presented  a  donation  to  the  Society, 
by  which  means  they  "made  a  tolerable  shift  for  the  rest 
of  this  year." 

Terasawa,  Sima  no  kami,  who  had  been  governor  of 
Nagasaki,  irritated  by  the  influence  brought  to  bear  against 
him  by  the  Roman  Catholic  party  at  Miako,  turned  the 
weapons  they  had  taught  him  to  use  against  themselves, 
and  tried  to  force  his  subjects  to  renounce  the  new  doctrines. 
Part  of  the  estates  of  Don  Austin  had  fallen  to  his  share. 
Another  part  had  fallen  under  the  rule  of  Toronosuqui,  who 
in  the  year  1602  "ravaged  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  like  a 
wild  boar  that  thirsts  after  nothing  but  blood.  He  began 
like  a  fox  and  ended  like  a  lion."  Thus  it  was  in  the  part 
of  the  empire  in  which  most  intolerance  had  been  shown  by 
Don  Austin  (under  the  instruction  of  foreign  priests)  to  his 
countrymen,  and  where  they  were  obliged  either  to  adopt 
the  Roman  Catholic  doctrines  or  leave  the  country,  that  the 
plan  was  retaliated  upon  themselves. 

Native  accounts  tell:  "In  1606  a  Dutch  ship  came  to 
Hirado  and  asked  that  Adams  might  be  sent  down  from 
Yedo.  He  was  sent.  lyeyas  wrote  under  the  red  seal  that 
the  English  and  Dutch  might  trade  in  any  part  of  Japan. 
Hide  tada  also  allowed  them  to  trade;  but  the  padre  sect 
were  not  allowed  to  come  to  Japan.  But  the  English  traders 


TO    THE  EXPULSION  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  181 

said  that  there  was  no  profit  to  be  made  out  of  the  trade  as 
it  was  obliged  to  be  conducted,  and  said  they  could  not  come 
back;  therefore  the  Dutch  only  remained." 

About  this  time  lyeyas  directed  his  attention  to  the  in- 
ternal economy  of  the  empire — improving  the  public  roads, 
placing  inns  upon  them,  and  strengthening  his  castles  at 
Yedo,  Suraga,  Miako,  Osaka,  and  Kofu.  He  was  aided  in 
this  by  the  discovery  of  valuable  gold-deposits  in  the  island 
of  Sado,  and  the  coin  the  koban  was  for  the  first  time  put 
into  circulation.  During  the  year  1609  Shimadzu  yoshi 
hissa,  a  relative  of  the  Prince  of  Satsuma,  set  out  from 
Satsuma  with  a  force  of  vessels  and  troops  to  bring  the  King 
of  the  Lioo  Kioo  Islands  more  completely  under  the  power 
of  Japan,  and  succeeded  in  his  object,  receiving  the  islands 
he  had  conquered  as  a  gift  from  the  hands  of  lyeyas. 

The  designs  of  lyeyas  against  Hideyori  began  to  develop 
themselves.  Upon  the  occasion  of  the  investiture  of  his  son 
with  the  title  of  Shiogoon,  he  expressed  the  thought  that 
Hideyori  ought  to  pay  him  a  visit  to  compliment  him ;  but 
his  mother  refused  to  allow  Hideyori  to  do  so,  protesting  she 
would  rather  cut  his  belly  open  with  her  own  hand  than 
allow  him  to  go,  thus  showing  the  extreme  suspicion  she  had 
of  the  intentions  of  lyeyas. 

At  this  time  the  Christians  enjoyed  a  profound  peace, 
which  was  attributed  in  the  Jesuit  letters  rather  to  the  fear 
of  this  party  joining  Hideyori  than  to  any  love  for  the  doc- 
trines promulgated.  But  at  the  same  time  there  were  men 
in  power  not  unfavorable  to  them,  and  they  were  always 
able  to  keep  anything  obnoxious  out  of  view.  Such  were 
Kowotsuki  no  kami,  the  favorite  of  lyeyas  (called  by  the 
letters  Coxuquendono),  and  Itakura,  governor  of  Miako. 

In  the  year  1606  the  Portuguese  bishop,  Cerqueria,  visited 
lyeyas  at  Miako,  and  was  received  by  him  with  the  honors 
given  to  one  of  their  own  bishops  of  royal  blood.  However, 
this  favor  did  not  seem  to  last  long.  The  mother  of  Hide- 
yori, incensed  at  some  of  her  ladies  having  declared  them- 
selves Christians,  appealed  to  lyeyas.  This  was  an  oppor- 


HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

tunity  of  pleasing  her  not  to  be  missed,  and  he  issued  forth- 
with the  following  proclamation : 

"The  Cubosama  hearing  that  several  of  his  subjects,  con- 
trary to  the  late  edict,  have  embraced  the  Christian  religion, 
is  highly  offended.  Wherefore  let  all  officers  of  his  court  be 
careful  to  see  his  orders  observed.  Moreover,  he  thinks  it 
necessary,  for  the  good  of  the  state,  that  none  should  em- 
brace that  new  doctrine ;  and  for  such  as  have  already  done 
so,  let  them  change  immediately  upon  notice  hereof. — 24th 
of  the  4th  moon"  (1606). 

No  immediate  action  appears  to  have  been  taken  upon 
this  proclamation. 

In  the  year  1607,  lyeyas  expressed  a  desire  to  see  the 
Father  Provincial.  He  accordingly  set  out  for  Kofu,  a  castle 
in  the  province  of  Kahi,  where  lyeyas  was  residing,  and  here 
he  was  received  with  much  kindness.  In  their  notice  of 
Yedo  the  fathers  say  that  lyeyas  employed  during  the .  pre- 
vious year  above  300,000  hands  in  the  works  about  the  castle 
of  Yedo.  The  towers  of  the  castle  were  nine  stories  high 
and  gilt  at  the  top,  together  with  delicious  gardens,  terraces, 
galleries,  courts,  and  magnificent  works.  By  these  fathers 
the  mountain  Pusiyama  is  mentioned  as  an  active  volcano, 
"a  mountain  of  fire,  famed  for  its  beauty,  height,  and  whirl- 
ing flames."  Even  at  this  time  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  all 
the  "kings  of  Japan"  had  their  palaces  there. 

In  this  tour  a  slight  notice  is  given  to  Kamakura  (Cuma- 
mura,  as  it  is  called  by  the  fathers),  "where  the  Cubos  and 
Xogoones  formerly  kept  their  courts.  It  is  currently  re- 
ported that  there  were  upward  of  200,000  houses  in  that 
town  alone;  but  when  these  fathers  went  that  way  they 
were  reduced  to  near  500." 

Notwithstanding  these  slight  appearances  of  returning 
favor  to  the  Jesuit  fathers,  the  opposition  to  conversion  in- 
creased as  the  profits  from  trade  decreased.  The  ruling 
powers  in  the  island  of  Kiusiu  were  now  more  or  less  against 
the  Romish  priests,  who  inculcated  a  line  of  conduct  which 
was  incompatible  with  living  at  peace  with  a  neighbor,  if 


TO    THE   EXPULSION  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  183 

holding  a  different  view  of  religion.  Nagasaki  was  in  1607 
said  to  be  entirely  converted  to  the  Christian  religion.  It 
was  divided  into  five  parishes.  "There  were  two  confra- 
ternities— a  house  of  mercy  and  a  hospital — which  diffused 
a  sweet  odor  of  sanctity  all  over  Japan."  But  this  odor  did 
not  extend  to  the  Portuguese  who.  frequented  the  port,  and, 
in  consequence  of  some  act  of  misconduct,  lyeyas  ordered 
Arima  (Don  Protase,  as  he  is  called  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
writers)  to  burn  a  large  Portuguese  vessel  then  lying  in  the 
harbor.  The  consequence  was  that  the  captain  left  the  place. 
He  was  pursued  by  an  overwhelming  force,  and,  overtaken 
during  a  calm,  was  forced  to  blow  up  his  ship. 

During  the  year  1611,  lyeyas  seems  to  have  made  up  his 
mind  that,  to  settle  the  country  upon  a  sure  basis,  some 
definite  understanding  must  be  come  to  with  Hideyori  and 
his  mother.  Of  what  his  designs  really  were  there  are  prob- 
ably no  proofs,  as  he  was  not  generally  communicative  before 
action.  He  marched  from  Soonpu  to  Miako  at  the  head  of 
upward  of  70,000  men.  The  general  suspicions  of  his  coun- 
trymen pointed  to  Hideyori  as  the  cause  of  a  movement  on 
so  large  a  scale.  Arrived  at  Miako,  he  insisted  upon  an 
interview  with  the  young  man,  then  twenty-three  years 
of  age.  After  much  delay  and  show  of  suspicion,  this  was 
agreed  to,  and  he  arrived  at  the  capital  with  a  splendid 
retinue.  Here  he  was  received  with  the  utmost  deference 
and  kindness  by  lyeyas,  who  shed  tears  over  the  remem- 
brance of  his  father's  kindness.  The -visit  was  returned  in 
a  few  days,  presents  were  interchanged,  and  the  prince  re- 
turned to  his  mother  at  Osaka  overjoyed  with  his  recep- 
tion. 

The  Jesuit  writers  notice  that  during  the  same  year  died 
Canzugedono,  King  of  Fingo  (Toronosuqui),  the  persecutor 
of  the  Christians;  "and,  as  Heaven  would  have  it,  he  was 
seized  with  an  apoplexy  on  the  very  day  he  was  intending 
to  renew  the  persecution  against  the  faithful."  Native  ac- 
counts attribute  his  death  to  poison  administered  by  order 
of  lyeyas  at  Fusimi.  He  had  thrown  out  some  seditious 


184  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

and  rebellious  threats  against  lyeyas.  Among  other  things 
stated  against  him,  he  refused,  when  ordered,  to  shave  off 
his  whiskers  at  court.  He  was,  as  has  been  stated  above, 
canonized  in  the  Japanese  calendar  by  the  title  of  Say  sho 
go  sama — probably  on  account  of  his  opposition  to  foreign- 
ers, and  the  zeal  with  which  he  tried  to  root  out  Christian- 
ity. To  this  day  the  mark  of  his  hand  upon  paper  is  used 
as  a  charm  placed  over  the  door  to  drive  away  evil  spirits. 
Since  the  admission  of  foreigners  in  1858,  his  character  as 
a  saint  worthy  of  worship  has  risen  in  national  estimation, 
and  his  temples  have  been  rebuilt.  One  in  Yokohama  is 
more  largely  patronized  than  any  other  temple  in  the  place. 
Processions  in  his  honor  are  among  the  most  prominent  in- 
dications of  religious  feeling,  and  the  sect  to  which  he  be- 
longed, the  Nitchi  ren  shioo,  has  profited  largely  by  excite- 
ment and  enthusiasm. 

During  the  year,  at  Nagasaki,  notwithstanding  the  proc- 
lamations which  had  been  issued  by  government  against  such 
exhibitions,  upon  the  beatification  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola, 
the  Society  of  Jesuits  made  a  solemn  procession  through  the 
streets,  when  forty  priests  assisted  in  copes,  besides  religious 
of  St.  Francis,  St.  Dominic,  and  St.  Austin,  who  then  re- 
sided in  the  town.  The  next  day  the  bishop  officiated  in 
pontificalibus,  and  the  ceremony  concluded  with  illumina- 
tions of  joy.  The  same  order  was  observed  at  Arima. 

During  the  following  year  the  Shiogoon  Hide  tada,  the 
son  of  lyeyas,  married  the  sister  of  Kita  Mandocoro,  wife  of 
Taikosama,  mother  of  Hideyori,  and  niece  of  Nobu  nanga. 

Hideyori  had  still  many  adherents,  who  were  attached  to 
him  and  to  his  father's  memory.  lyeyas  had  been  afraid 
of  acting  against  the  Christians  so  severely  as  to  compel 
them  to  throw  their  weight  into  the  opposite  scale ;  but  he 
began  to  see  that  he  could  keep  all  the  advantages  of  trade 
through  the  Dutch,  and  get  rid  of  the  political  dangers  which 
threatened  Japan  through  the  foreign  priesthood.  The  Jes- 
uits allege  that  the  Dutch  encouraged  him  in  these  views, 
explaining  how  the  Society  had  been  driven  out  of  their  coun- 


TO    THE   EXPULSION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  185 

tries  by  the  princes  of  Germany  and  Holland  as  disturbers 
of  the  public  peace. 

In  1612  he  determined  to  get  rid  of  these  ever-disquieting 
agents,  the  more  excited  thereto  by  finding  himself  in  the 
meshes  of  a  net  out  of  which  he  could  only  break  his  way 
by  force.  He  found  that  the  Prince  of  Arima,  one  of  the 
warmest  and  most  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christianity 
(whose  son  had  married  the  granddaughter  of  lyeyas),  had 
been  intriguing  with  the  officers  at  court,  to  win  their  good 
offices  by  bribery,  in  gaining  for  him  large  additions  to  his 
territory.  He  now,  for  the  first  time,  acted  with  severity 
against  some  of  the  native  Christians  about  the  court.  Four- 
teen were  condemned  to  death,  but  the  sentence  was  com- 
muted to  perpetual  banishment  and  confiscation  of  their 
estates.  This  action  on  the  part  of  lyeyas  himself  at  once 
brought  out  into  bolder  relief  the  two  parties.  Those  officers 
who  had  hitherto  winked  at  the  Christians,  and  had  per- 
mitted them  to  carry  on  their  worship  and  preaching  un- 
disturbed, now  saw  which  way  the  wind  was  blowing,  and 
acted  accordingly.  This  severity  was  carried  into  the  heart 
of  the  court — one  of  the  concubines  of  lyeyas  being  confined, 
and  banished  to  the  island  of  Oshima,  and  thence  to  the 
smaller  island  of  Nishima,  and  thence  to  a  rock,  Cozu  shima, 
upon  which  seven  or  eight  fishermen  lived  in  straw  huts, 
subsisting  on  what  they  caught ;  and  these  men  were  ordered 
to  keep  this  lady. 

Shortly  after  this,  Don  Protase  of  Arima  suffered.  His 
son  Michael,  who  had  been  brought  up  as  a  Christian,  fear- 
ing to  lose  possession  of  his  father's  dominions,  informed 
against  him,  accusing  him  of  crimes,  and  suborning  wit- 
nesses against  him.  Upon  the  proof  offered  he  was  be- 
headed. This  Christian's  son  Michael,  who  had  divorced 
a  Christian  lady  to  marry  the  granddaughter  of  lyeyas,  then 
turned  apostate,  and  began  a  persecution  within  his  territo- 
ries of  all  who  professed  Christianity.  He  began,  in  order 
to  please  lyeyas,  by  putting  to  death  two  boys,  his  own 
nephews.  Here  again,  where  the  Jesuits  had  been  most 


186  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

intolerant,  the  tables  were  turned  upon  them.  In  the  prov- 
ince of  Boongo,  at  one  time  the  stronghold  of  the  Roman 
Catholics,  the  same  action  was  being  taken ;  and  about  this 
time,  in  Yedo,  the  Shiogoon,  on  the  representation  of  in- 
formers, put  to  death  some  natives  who  had  built  a  new 
church,  and  banished  the  father  out  of  the  country. 

In  1613,  Don  Michael  of  Arima  was  pressed  by  his  wife 
and  others  to  renew  his  severities,  and  eight  Christians  were 
burned  near  his  castle  by  slow  fires. 

In  1614,  lyeyas  was  stimulated  by  the  opponents  of  Chris- 
tianity to  take  action  against  those  who  professed  it.  "With 
the  advice  of  his  council  he  issued  orders  that  all  religious, 
European  and  Japanese,  should  be  sent  out  of  the  country, 
that  the  churches  should  be  pulled  down,  and  the  Christian 
members  be  forced  to  renounce  their  faith.  To  carry  out 
these  orders,  all  foreign  priests  and  natives,  members  of  the 
Jesuit  Society,  were  ordered  to  leave  Miako,  Osaka  and  Fu- 
simi,  and  retire  to  Nagasaki.  Hojo  Segami  no  kamijwas  or- 
dered to  see  that  this  order  was  executed;  but  he  was  chosen, 
perhaps,  from  a  desire  to  remove  him  out  of  the  way,,  as 
well  as  to  take  the  opportunity  of  seizing  his  estate.  Accord- 
ingly, while  he  was  so  engaged,  he  was  accused  of  some 
crime,  and  his  estates  confiscated.  The  native  Christians 
were  banished  to  Tsoongaru,  at  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  island.  At  Kanesawa,  in  Kanga,  Justo  Ookon  dono 
Takayama  was  ordered  to  leave  with  the  others.  Still 
further  to  make  sure  of  the  success  of  his  projects,  lyeyas 
dispatched  to  the  island  of  Kiusiu  upward  of  10,000  men, 
under  three  leaders,  for  the  purpose  of  overawing  the  Chris- 
tians and  putting  down  any  attempts  to  rise  in  that  quarter. 
In  Kiusiu  the  new  doctrines  had  first  taken  root,  and  had 
flourished  with  greater  luxuriance  than  on  the  main  island 
of  Nippon.  The  lordships  were  smaller,  and  therefore  the 
advantages  of  trade  were  proportionably  greater  in  the  eyes 
of  the  proprietors.  But  as  in  the  outset  these  lesser  lords 
had  favored  what  seemed  to  them  a  source  of  revenue,  when 
things  turned  against  the  religion  they  distinguished  them- 


TO    THE   EXPULSION    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  187 

selves  by  zeal  in  putting  down  what  in  the  end  threatened 
to  deprive  them  of  everything.  In  them  the  government 
found  the  most  active  and  zealous  assistants.  Many  of  these 
lords  or  their  parents  had  been  baptized.  The  Jesuits  had 
there  most  sway,  and  had  used  it  with  the  most  intolerance ; 
and  lyeyas  determined,  before  striking  a  blow  at  Hideyori 
in  Osaka,  to  remove  any  chance  of  a  diversion  being  made 
in  his  favor  on  the  part  of  the  Christians  in  this  distant  part 
of  the  empire.  But  if  we  believe  the  letters  of  the  fathers, 
the  fortitude  and  courage  with  which  martyrdom  was  en- 
dured by  professing  natives  must  be  looked  on  with  admira- 
tion. The  better  classes  lost  everything — lands,  position, 
comforts,  in  many  cases  their  wives  and  children,  and,  last 
of  all,  their  lives — in  the  cause  of  their  faith.  The  poorer 
gave  up  their  lives,  all  they  had  to  give,  with  zeal,  fortitude, 
and  even  joy. 

In  the  other  parts  of  Kiusiu,  in  Tsikuzen  and  Figo,  and 
in  the  remote  islands  of  Xequi  or  Kossiki,  the  same  spirit 
was  shown  toward  the  Christians;  and  upon  October  25, 
1614,  three  hundred  persons — in  a  word,  all  the  Jesuits,  ex- 
cept eighteen  fathers  and  nine  brothers,  with  a  few  cathe- 
chists  (who  lay  hid  in  the  country  for  the  help  of  the  faith- 
ful)— were  shipped  off  out  of  the  country  by  a  Portuguese 
vessel.  This  mode  of  dealing  with  persons  in  the  position 
assumed  by  these  foreigners  and  their  adherents  seems  to 
have  been  at  once  lenient,  yet  determined,  and  mercenary 
without  being  severe.  The  party  had  assumed  a  political 
aspect  threatening  to  the  state.  The  very  ladies  of  his 
household  had  been  supported  by  these  foreigners  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Kubosama  himself.  And  as  it  was  intended 
to  be  a  final  political  step,  and  not  a  religious  persecution, 
any  foreigner  found  thereafter  spreading  such  intolerant 
doctrines  would  be  treated  as  a  political  partisan.  Justo 
was  put  on  board  a  Chinese  vessel  with  some  Spanish  priests 
and  some  Japonian  clerks,  and  set  sail  for  Manila,  where  he 
died  shortly  after  his  arrival. 

The  step  of  removing  from  the  capital  and  its  neighbor- 


188  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

hood  all  the  foreign  fathers  was,  in  its  results,  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  the  cause  of  religion.  During  the  rule  of 
Nobu  nanga  and  Taikosama,  Father  Rodriguez,  the  inter- 
preter, a  man  evidently  well  acquainted  with  the  language 
and  with  the  court,  was  invited  or  allowed  to  remain  in  the 
capital.  From  the  accounts  sent  thence  it  is  evident  that  by 
tact  and  judgment  Father  Rodriguez  had  maintained  his 
place,  that  he  was  in  communication  with  the  highest  offi- 
cers at  court,  and  exercised  an  unseen  but  potent  power  in 
behalf  of  his  brethren.  With  such  a  person  at  court,  oppo- 
sition cannot  so  easily  gain  head.  Evil  reports  are  warded 
off,  occasional  words  in  favor  can  be  thrown  in ;  but  with 
the  withdrawal  of  such  a  power  from  the  court  the  foreign 
cause  becomes  powerless.  Every  one  is  ready  to  abuse,  and 
to  chime  in  to  please  his  superior.  There  is  no  possibility  of 
warding  off  the  blows  aimed.  It  is  impossible  to  know 
whether  the  highest  power  knows  anything  of  the  edicts 
put  out  in  his  name.  The  Buddhists,  a  powerful  body, 
would  be  ready  to  press  down  upon  and  thrust  out  opponents 
who  had  borne  themselves  so  proudly  in  the  day  of  their 
prosperity.  Their  own  tactics  recoiled  upon  the  fathers; 
and  when  they  were  turned  out  of  court,  without  friends 
or  advocates,  their  cause  became  hopeless,  and  with  their 
downfall  the  position  of  all  other  foreigners  in  the  country 
was  involved. 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  a  good  defense  of  the  policy  adopted 
in  Japan,  to  remember  that  it  was  nearly  identical  with  that 
which  England  was  compelled  to  adopt  at  the  same  time, 
and  under  similar  circumstances.  In  both  countries  the 
change  was  conducted  by  the  government,  and  in  both  the 
spirit  of  the  people  rose  against  the  interference  of  a  foreign 
priesthood  with  the  national  concerns.  The  truth  is,  that 
the  doctrine  of  the  Papal  supremacy  is  an  "exterritoriality 
clause"  of  itself,  which,  operating  in  a  country  professing 
another  faith,  creates  an  imperium  in  imperio,  which  be- 
comes very  embarrassing  to  a  government,  whether  it  be 
Japan  or  England.  The  confiscation  of  abbey-lands  in  Eng- 


TO    THE   EXPULSION   OF   CHRISTIANITY.  189 

land  may  be  compared  with,  or  was  analogous  to,  the  con- 
fiscation of  the  lands  of  the  lords  of  Japan,  while  informers 
in  each  were  rewarded  by  a  gift  of  the  property  belonging 
to  offenders  of  less  note.  The  difficulty  with  which  Japan 
had  to  cope  was,  that  there  was  no  mode  of  escape  from 
persecution  by  going  into  exile  into  other  countries  until 
the  storm  had  blown  over. 

In  1615,  after  getting  rid  of  these  politically  dangerous 
persons,  lyeyas  seemed  to  think  that  he  might  push  things 
to  extremities  with  Hideyori  and  his  mother.  He  ordered 
up  all  the  troops  in  Kiusiu  to  Osaka,  and  thither  he  repaired 
with  a  large  force.  He  had  endeavored  for  some  time  to 
make  Hideyori  spend  his  revenues  so  freely  as  to  impoverish 
his  exchequer.  He  had  induced  him  to  rebuild  the  large 
temple  of  Buddha  in  Miako,  and  the  day  was  fixed  for  the 
consecration ;  but  the  suspicions  of  the  mother  were  roused, 
and  the  solemnity  was  postponed.  The  young  man  had  pre- 
sented a  large  bell  to  the  temple,  upon  which,  it  is  said,  that 
a  wish  was  engraved  that  Yedo  might  be  destroyed.  This 
bell  is  never  struck.  This  was  made  a  pretext  for  a  quarrel, 
and  as  the  deserters  from  the  castle  reported  that  it  was  un- 
provided, it  was  forthwith  invested,  and  war  entered  upon. 
There  were  many  able  commanders  in  the  party  of  Hideyori, 
and  the  castle  of  Osaka  was  defended  so  well  that  after  some 
time  lyeyas  was  obliged  to  retire  and  raise  the  siege,  as  he 
was  losing  prestige  by  delay,  and  men  by  desertion.  An 
armistice  was  agreed  upon  at  the  desire  of  lyeyas ;  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  demanded  only  to  give  time.  The  sur- 
rounding country  was  desolated,  and  before  long  hostilities 
were  renewed;  and  as  a  part  of  the  army  of  Hideyori  was 
encamped  outside,  a  general  battle  ensued  on  June  3,  1615. 
In  the  account  of  the  Jesuits,  two  of  whom  were  present, 
the  army  of  lyeyas  was  on  the  point  of  defeat,  when,  prob- 
ably through  treachery,  the  castle  was  set  on  fire,  the  troops 
of  Hideyori  became  panicstruck,  and  a  total  rout  and  gen- 
eral slaughter  ensued.  In  the  relation  by  Trigautius  it  is 
stated  that  in  no  battle  in  Japanese  history  did  so  much 


190  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

slaughter  take  place  as  in  this.  The  populous  neighborhood, 
the  density  of  the  city,  the  lawlessness  of  the  troops,  all  com- 
bined to  produce  a  fearful  carnage.  No  certain  information 
was  ever  got  of  the  death  of  Hideyori  or  his  mother.  In  all 
probability  they  committed  suicide,  and  their  bodies  were 
destroyed  in  the  conflagration.  Reports  were  circulated  of 
their  having  fled — some  said  to  Koya,  others  to  Satsuma; 
but  as  diligent  search  was  made  for  six  months  after,  and 
no  trace  of  them  was  discovered  with  certainty  either  then 
or  in  after  years,  the  common  report  is  likely  to  be  correct. 
His  natural  son  was  taken  and  beheaded.  After  this  de- 
cisive battle,  lyeyas,  having  satisfied  himself  that  he  had 
made  all  things  sure  about  Miako  and  Osaka,  returned  to 
Soonpu,  and  his  son  to  Yedo.  However,  lyeyas  did  not 
live  long  to  gather  the  fruits  of  his  sowing,  or  witness  the 
success  of  his  schemes  in  the  working  of  his  laws.  He  died 
on  March  8,  1616,  at  Soonpu,  advising  his  sons  to  be  kind 
to  the  nobles,  and,  above  all,  to  govern  their  subjects  in  the 
spirit  of  tenderness  and  affection.  He  died  not  without  sus- 
picion of  his  having  been  poisoned  by  his  second  son,  Hideyas, 
the  elder  brother  of  Hidetada,  the  Shiogoon.  He  was  buried 
in  the  hills  of  Nikko,  a  short  distance  north  of  Yedo,  with 
great  splendor.  His  posthumous  title  or  name  and  rank  is 
To  sho,  Dai  Gongen  mia  (Tung  chau,  Ta  K'iuen  hien  kung) 
d'zo  jo  itchi-i,  Dai  jo  dai  jin — The  Eastern  Light,  the  Illus- 
trious Gem  (a  Buddhist  title  for  a  deified  being)  of  the  first 
rank,  Prime  Minister.  He  is  often  spoken  of  as  To  sho  goo 
and  Gongen  sama,  but  this  latter  is  a  generic  term,  and  not 
specially  applicable  to  any  individual. 

The  East  India  Company  endeavored,  shortly  before  the 
death  of  lyeyas,  to  open  a  trade  with  Japan,  and  the  letters 
of  Captain  Saris,  Cocks,  and  others,  give  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  country  at  the  time.  In  answer  to  a  letter  from 
the  King  of  Great  Britain,  lyeyas  granted  to  his  majesty's 
subjects  certain  privileges  of  trade,  and  the  settling  of  a  fac- 
tory in  Japan,  and  confirmed  these  under  his  broad  seal  for 
the  better  determining  thereof.  This  document,  a  fac-simile 


TO    THE   EXPULSION  OF   CHRISTIANITY.  191 

of  the  original,  is  to  be  seen  in  Purchas.  For  sufficient  rea- 
sons, the  factory  was  in  no  long  time  withdrawn,  and  the 
trade  entirely  ceased  in  1621. 

In  1619  some  notice  of  the  persecutions  carried  on  against 
Christians  is  given  in  Mr.  Cocks'  letter,  which  corroborates 
the  accounts  received  through  the  Roman  Catholic  channels, 
and  is  worthy  of  note  as  being  written  by  one  who  evidently 
bore  no  great  goodwill  to  that  form  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  will  render  it  unnecessary  to  allude  further  to  the  fear- 
ful particulars  detailed  by  Trigautius  and  others : 

"The  persecution  in  this  country,  which  before  proceeded 
no  further  than  banishment  and  loss  of  civil  and  religious 
liberties,  has  since  (as  this  letter  tells  us)  run  up  to  all  the 
severities  of  corporal  punishment.  The  Christians  suffered 
as  many  sorts  of  deaths  and  torments  as  those  in  the  primi- 
tive persecutions ;  and  such  was  they-  constancy  that  their 
adversaries  were  sooner  weary  of  inflicting  punishments  than 
they  of  enduring  the  effects  of  their  rage.  Very  few,  if  any 
at  all,  renounced  their  profession;  the  most  hideous  forms 
in  which  death  appeared  (by  the  contrivance  of  their  adver- 
saries) would  not  scare  them,  nor  all  the  terrors  of  a  solemn 
execution  overpower  that  strength  of  mind  with  which  they 
seemed  to  go  through  their  sufferings.  They  made  their 
very  children  martyrs  with  them,  and  carried  them  in  their 
arms  to  the  stake,  choosing  rather  to  resign  them  to  the 
flames  than  leave  them  to  the  bonzes  to  be  educated  in  the 
pagan  religion.  All  the  churches  which  the  last  storm  left 
standing,  this  had  entirely  blown  down  and  demolished, 
and  heathen  pagodas  were  erected  upon  their  ruins." 

Edict  after  edict  emanated,  or  at  least  were  said  to  ema- 
nate, from  the  Shiogoon,  ordering  more  and  more  severe 
action  to  be  taken  against  the  Christians.  There  remained 
no  power  of  verifying  these  edicts,  no  one  to  speak  a  word 
at  court  for  the  unfortunate  creatures ;  while  they  were  sur- 
rounded by  hungry  wolves,  who  might  invent  edicts  in  order 
to  profit  by  the  confiscation  of  property,  whose  interest  it 
was  that  the  infant  heir  should  be  destroyed  with  his  father, 


102  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

and  who  were  further  incited  by  the  priests,  or  bozangs,  who 
gnashed  their  teeth  in  the  hour  of  victory  over  enemies  who 
had  lorded  it  so  proudly  over  them  in  the  short  days  of  their 
prosperity.  By  such  ferocity,  combined  with  a  strict  watch 
kept  up  on  foreign  vessels,  the  Christian  religion  was  nearly 
extirpated ;  but  in  the  district  of  Arima,  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  inhabitants,  having  all  their  lives  professed  Christian- 
ity, at  last  in  desperation  resolved  rather  to  fight  than  sub- 
mit to  such  a  system  of  persecution. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   LAWS   OP  IYEYA8 

IYEYAS  had  shown  himself  an  able  commander,  and  an 
astute,  if  a  somewhat  unscrupulous,  diplomatist.  He  is 
known  to  this  day  as  a  legislator.  Hitherto  the  country 
seems  to  have  been  governed  by  the  laws  of  Tankaiko,  and 
these  are  still  in  force.  But  lyeyas  thought  it  necessary  to 
lay  down  rules  for  those  who  formed  his  own  court — the 
military  chiefs  (with  their  two-sworded  followers),  whom  ke 
intended  to  act  as  the  executive  throughout  the  empire.  He, 
to  this  end,  issued  one  hundred  rules  or  directions  as  his  tes- 
tament, to  be  bequeathed  to  his  descendants  in  power,  as  a 
guide  to  them  in  the  office  which  he  hoped  would  be  heredi- 
tary in  his  family.  It  is  said  that  lyeyas  was  assisted  in 
drawing  up  this  code  by  Nrjio  dono,  Kon  chi  eeng,  Tenkai 
sojo  and  Kanga.  The  originals  are  now  kept  at  the  temple 
of  Koo  no  san,  and  it  is  intended  that  no  one  but  the  minis- 
ters of  state  shall  ever  see  them.  These  rules  are  commonly 
called  "Bookay  hiak  kadjo" — the  hundred  lines  or  rules  for 
the  military  class.  The  title  is  Go  yu  i  jowo  or  Yu  i  geng 
or  gong — the  last  testament  of  Tosho  goo,  in  one  hundred 
sections. 


THE   LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  193 

The  following  translation  of  these  rules  is  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  mere  sketch,  or  such  defective  information  as  a 
Japanese  who  understood  little  English  could  convey  to  the 
author,  who  understood  little  Japanese,  and  the  division  into 
100  sections  is  difficult  to  ascertain  in  the  original. 

*  No  one  is  to  act  simply  for  the  gratification  of  his  own 
desires,  but  he  is  to  strive  to  do  what  may  be  opposed  to  his 
desires — i.e.,  to  exercise  self-control — in  order  that  every  one 
may  be  ready  for  whatever  he  may  be  called  upon  by  his 
superiors  to  do. 

*  The  aged,  whether  widowers  or  widows,  and  orphans, 
and  persons  without  relatives,  every  one  should  assist  with 
kindness  and  liberality,  for  justice  to  these  four  is  the  root 
of  good  government. 

*  Respect  the  gods,  keep  the  heart  pure,  and  be  diligent 
in  business  during  the  whole  life. 

*  If  the  Kubosama  (or   Shiogoon)  should  die  childless, 
then  Ee,  Honda,  Sakakibarra,  and  Sakai,*  together  with  the 
older  and  most  able  servants  of  the  Kubosama,  are  to  meet 
together,  and,  no  matter  whether  he  be  distantly  or  nearly 
related,  they  are  to  fix  upon  the  man  most  worthy,  and  of 
most  merit,  as  successor. 

*  Upon  whomsoever  the  Mikado  may  confer  the  title  of 
Se  i  shio  goon,  it  is  ordained  that  the  customs  shall  continue 
as  in  the  time  of  Kamakura  dono  (Yoritomo). 

*  All  the  rice  produce  (cheegio)  of  the  empire  (at  my  dis- 
posal) amounts  to  28,900,000  koku.     Of  this,  I  arrange  that 
20,000,000  is  to  be  divided  among  the  Daimios  and  Shomios 
or  Hattamoto,  and  the  remaining  8,900,000  koku  shall  be- 
long to  the  Kubosama. 

*  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Kubosama  to  guard  from  danger 
the  Emperor  and  his  palace,  and  to  preserve  peace  and  tran- 
quillity in  the  empire  in  every  direction. 

*  These  four  are  the  highest  of  the  official  or  Fudai  class 
of  Daimio,  and  are  commonly  known  as  the  Si  Ten  wo,  or 
"four  heavenly   emperors" — a   Buddhist  title. 

9 


194  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

*  All  the  Bookay — i.e.,  military  officers — are  to  take  care 
that  the  laws  of  the  empire  are  not  lightly  changed ;  but  as 
sometimes  necessity  may  arise  for  a  change,  they  may  yield 
on  special  occasions. 

*  All  Daimios  and  Hattamotos  who  adhered  to  me  and 
my  cause  up  to  the  time  of  the  war  at  Osaka  (with  Hideyori) 
are  to  be  Fudai.     Those  who  since  that  time  have  given  in 
their  adhesion,  and  have  remained  steadfast,  are  Tozamma 
(Ch.,  ngoy  yeong),  outside  lords.     Of  Tozamma  there  are 
eighty-six,  of  Fudai  eight  thousand  and  twenty-three,  and 
of  Kammong,  or  relations  of  my  family,  thirteen.     Of  vis- 
itors (lords  who  visit  lyeyas  on  equal  terms,  called  Okiak- 
sama  or  Hin  re-i),  five,  who  are: 

1.  Kitsure  gawa  dono,  )   ,  ..  ,, 

>  descendants  of  Yoritomo. 

2.  Iwa  matz  manjiro,    ) 

3.  Matzdarra  Tajima  no  kami,  who  was  the  seventh  son 
of  Hideyas  (elder  brother  of  Hidetada),  and  so  grandson  of 
lyeyas.     He  was  adopted  by  Taikosama,  but  was  returned 
to  his  father  on  the  birth  of  Hideyori,  and  was  afterward 
adopted  by  YuM. 

4.  Tatchibanna  hida  no  kami — of  a  very  old,  illustrious 
family.     He  was  military  teacher  of  lyaymitz  ko,  third  Ku- 
bosama,  and  would  not  acknowledge  lyeyas  as  his  superior, 
but  had  not  much  power,  and  was  not  disturbed  by  lyeyas. 

5.  Tokungawa  Mantokuji  was  a  very  old  branch  of  the 
Tokungawa  line. 

*  Ko  fhoo  jo  nai  (a  name  of  the  shiro  or  castle  of  Yedo ; 
the  Chinese  characters  are  different  from  the  Ko  fu  of  the 
province  of  Kahi,  where  the  Shiogoon  has  a  castle)  presents 
on  the  left  side  the  shape  of  a  dragon,  on  the  right,  that 
of  an  (washi)  eagle ;  to  the  northwest  lies  the  second,  Kuko 
or  Maro ;  to  the  north  lies  the  third ;  to  the  west,  the  fourth ; 
to  the  southwest,  the  fifth. 

The  O  ban  goomi,  or  large  guard  of  the  Kubosama,  con- 
sisting of  twelve  companies,  may  be  likened  to  the  twelve 
gods  (the  Yakushi  riorai).  The  Sho  eeng  bang— the  lesser 
guard  of  ten  companies — are  like  the  ten  stars.  The  Dzeng 


THE  LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  195 

koo  or  Sakitay  (who  lead  the  van  in  war)  are  thirty-three 
companies,  like  the  thirty-three  heavens.  The  Mochizutzu, 
musqueteers  (who  fire  balls  of  five  momays  weight),  are 
seven  companies,  like  the  Stchi  wo  or  seven  lights — the  sun, 
moon  and  planets.  The  Sho  ban  gashira,  numbering  twenty- 
eight,  are  similar  to  the  twenty-eight  stars.  The  Ho  shing 
— i.e.,  old  servants  (acting  as  the  Gorogiu  or  cabinet) — are 
as  the  four  heavens.  Over  them,  and  higher,  is  placed  the 
Shiogoon.  These  are  all  so  arranged  to  suit  well-known  and 
easily  remembered  arrangements  in  the  Buddhist  books  of 
religion. 

*  There  are  many  Fudai,  but  of  this  class  the  Mikawa, 
or  old  Fudai,  are  to  rank  the  highest.     Of  these  there  are 
fourteen:  1,  Tori  yee;   2,  Itakura;    3,  Owokubo;    4,  Todda; 
5,  Honda;  6,  Ogassawara;  7,  Akimoto;   8,  Sakakibarra;    9, 
Sakkye;   10,  Ishikawa;    11,  Kooze;    12,  Katto;   13,  Abbe; 

14, .     Of  these  families,  if  able  men  can  be  found 

among  them,  the  Gorogiu  or  cabinet  is  to  be  chosen.     To- 
zamma  Daimios,  however  able  they  may  be,  cannot  have 
seats  in  the  Gorogiu,  or  take  any  part  in  government. 

*  The  families  and  names  of  all   Daimios,   large  and 
small,  who  have    acted  with  me  in   my  wars,   shall   con- 
tinue (i.e.,  shall  not  be  removed  from  the  peerage),  how- 
ever badly  they  conduct  themselves,  unless  they  turn  rebels 
or  traitors. 

*  In  regard  to  the  Koku  shiu,  Rio  shiu,  Joshu  (classes  of 
Daimios  —the  first,  lord  of  a  province;  the  second,  lord  of  a 
district;  the  third,  lord  of  a  castle),  Tozamma  and  Fudai,  if 
they  break  the  laws  and  oppress  the  people,  no  matter  how 
old  the  line  or  how  large  their  territory,  I  will  use  my  power 
and  forces  to  brush  them  away  from  both  territory  and  cas- 
tle.    This  is  the  duty  of  the  Shiogoon  alone. 

*  Among  officers  the  different  ranks  are  to  be  observed, 
each  according  to  his  rank  or  his  official  income ;  but  if  they 
are  equal  in  both,  the  eldest  in  years  shall  take  precedence. 

*  The  President  of  the  Hio  jo  sho  [a  deliberative  court 
in  Yedo  with  judicial  powers]  must  be  selected  as  being  a 


196  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

man  of  the  clearest  mind  and  best  disposition;  and  once 
every  month  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Shiogoon  to  go  to  the 
meeting,  without  giving  previous  notice  of  the  day,  when  he 
himself  must  decide  on  the  questions  brought  before  him. 

*  Each  province  is  divided  into  kowori,  sho,  inura,  and 
sato — districts,  parishes,  villages,  and  hamlets.     In  the  mura 
and  sato,  should  there  be  any  family  of  old  standing  among 
the  lower  classes,  even  though  the  head  of  it  may  be  very 
poor,  he  ought  to  be  appointed  officer;   and  if  a  rich  man 
settles  in  the  village,  he  is  not  to  be  made  an  officer.     This 
is  to  be  the  law  in  all  territories,  whether  of  a  Koku  shiu, 
Rio  shiu,  Jo  shu,  or  Ji  to  wo  (ground-head,  i.e.,  landed  pro- 
prietor, not  eligible  to  office). 

*  All  Daimios  and  Hattamotos  not  in  office  (i.e.,  not 
residing  at  Yedo),  whether  Tozamma  or  Fudai,  are  com- 
manded not  to  be  unjust  toward  me.     My  business  is  to 
guard  the  Emperor  and  his  court  and  the  whole  empire  of 
Japan,  and  I  command  you  to  assist  me  in  repairing  and 
keeping  up  all  the  imperial  castles,  roads,  rivers,  and  guards. 

*  The  repairing  the   Shiogoon's  residence,  the  keeping 
in  repair  public  roads,  keeping  up  ferries,  etc.,  is  Fushin; 
Daimios  are  sometimes  called  shokowo ;  when  they  are  act- 
ing as  guards,  as  in  Kanagawa,  they  are  "Katamme";  and 
in  keeping  up  these  guards,  the  whole  expense  is  borne  by 
the  Daimios. 

*  Irayzumi,  the  marking  a  criminal  with  ink  or  gun- 
powder ;  Go  ku  mong,  putting  a  decapitated  head  in  a  box 
for  exposure;  Haritske,  spearing  on  a  cross;  Ushizaki,  tying 
four  oxen's  tails  to  a  man's  limbs,  and  starting  them  off  by 
fire  to  tear  off  the  limbs ;  Kumma  iri,  boiling  a  criminal  in 
hot  water.     These  are  old  punishments  for  criminals.     The 
officers  are  to  try  to  discover  who  are  worthy  men,  and  they 
are  to  be  rewarded  wiUh  territory,  titles,  and  rank.     Crimi- 
nals are  to  be  punished  by  branding  (or  marking),  or  beat- 
ing, or  tying-up,  and,  in  capital  cases,  by  spearing  or  decapi- 
tation;   but  the  old  punishments  of  tearing  to  pieces  and 
boiling  to  death  are  not  to  be  used. 


THE   LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  197 

*  When  I  was  young  I  determined  to  fight  and  punish 
all  my  own  and  my  ancestors'  enemies,  and  I  did  punish 
them;  but  afterward,  by  deep  consideration,  I  found  that 
the  way  of  heaven  was  to  help  the  people,  and  not  to  punish 
them.     Let  my  successors  follow  out  this  policy,  or  they  are 
not  of  my  line.     In  this  lies  the  strength  of  the  nation. 

*  In  regard  to  filling  in  new  ground,  if  there  are  no  ob- 
jections, it  may  be  done  according  to  the  laws  in  force  in  the 
time  of  Yoritomo ;  but  if  objections  are  made  (by  neighbors 
or  others),  it  is  not  to  be  carried  out. 

*  In  case  also  of  wishing  to  make  new  canals  (hori),  or 
lakes  (Ikay),  reservoirs  of  water,  old  precedents  are  to  guide 
the  officers. 

*  If  there  be  a  lawsuit  as  to  a  property  or  a  road,  if  it  is 
shown  to  have  existed  fifty  years,  the  question  cannot  after- 
ward be  reopened. 

*  Among  officers  outside  and  inside  there  are  at  times 
unseemly  brawls  as  to  rank,  but  these  are  all  to  be  settled 
now,  and  I  settle  them  accordingly  in  the  following  order: 

Tad  ro  sin,  Orussuee,  Tai  ro  jiu  (now  Gorojiu),  Soshi, 
Osaka  jio  dai,  Soonpu  riobang,  Waka  doshi  yori,  Soba  yo 
nin,  Kokay,  Sosha,  Jeesha  boonyo,  Oku  toshi  yori  (obsolete), 
Nishi  maro  russui,  Owo  metske,  Kotai  yori  yai,  Hira  toshi 
yori  (obsolete),  Kan  jo  boonyo,  Matchi  boonyo,  Oku  ko  sho 
ngashira,  Naka  oku  ko  sho,  Sho  eeng  ban  gashira,  O  ban 
gashira,  Shin  ban  gashira,  Onando  kashira,  Ko  nando 
kashira,  Kiri  no  ma  tsu  may  bang,  Gan  no  ma  tsu  may 
bang,  Fuvo  no  ma  yakunin,  Tskyebang,  Ki  roku  sho  yaku- 
nin  and  Hio  moku  no  mono,  Ten  shoo  bang,  Hozo  bang, 
Hatta  boonyo,  Katana  ban  gashira,  Motchi  yumi  ngashira, 
Motchi  tsudzu  gashira,  Sakitay  gashira,  Yari  boonyo,  Kooshi 
boonyo,  Ma  ya  betto,  Funatay  ngashira,  Makanai  gashira, 
Jusba,  Eeshi,  Fushing  boonyo,  Tan  sz  boonyo,  Do  bo  ngash- 
ira, Zashiki  bang,  Hi  no  ban  gashira,  Katchi  metske  gashira, 
Kobito  gashira,  Iga  no  kashira,  Kurokwa  kashira,  Tayshi 
gashira.  And  below  this  rank,  all  the  captains  or  officers 
of  companies  will  settle  the  ranks.  When  the  official  income 


198  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

is  above  10,000  koku,  the  Roshing  or  Gorogiu  shall  settle, 
below  this  the  Waka  toshi  yori.  The  highest  of  all  is  the 
So  to  rio,  the  Tai  ro  shin,  or  Go  tai  ro,  or  Sosai;  i.e.,  the 
Regent. 

*  There  are  men  who  always  say  Yes  (i.e.,  agree  with 
me),  and  there  are  others  who  sometimes  say  No  (i.e.,  ex- 
press a  different  opinion  from  me).     Now,  the  former  I  wish 
to  put  away  from  me,  and  the  latter  I  wish  to  be  near  me. 
The  elders  of  the  Gorogiu  are  to  examine  and  see  that  men 
do  not  do  such  business  only  as  is  agreeable  to  them,  and 
avoid  all  that  is  the  reverse.     I  wish  to  have  about  me  all 
opinions  of  men,  both  those  who  differ  from  me  and  those 
who  agree  with  me. 

*  If  some  man  should  say  such  a  one  deserves  to  be  put 
to  death,  the  officers  must  not  act  upon  his  wish  alone ;  but 
if  all  the  people  say  such  a  one  should  be  put  to  death,  the 
officers  must  examine  into  the  case ;  and  if  all  the  people  say 
such  a  one  should  be  rewarded,  I  myself  must  examine,  or 
the  country  will  be  lost. 

*  As  to  cormorant-fishing  and  hawking,  some  men  used 
to  say  that  these  amusements  were  useless  and  expensive, 
and  they  were  in  consequence  interdicted.     But  I  do  not 
prohibit  them.     They  strengthen  the  body,  and  with  riding, 
archery,  hunting,  and  shooting,  are  not  to  be  forgotten  or 
omitted  in  time  of  peace  by  the  military  classes  in  the  empire. 

*  Singing,  dancing,  and  music  are  not  strictly  military 
occupations,  and  soldiers  ought  not  to  devote  themselves  to 
these  accomplishments ;  but  at  times  the  mind  is  oppressed, 
and  the  heart  is  heavy,  and  requires  relaxation  and  mirth, 
and  therefore  these  are  not  to  be  altogether  prohibited. 

*  I  am  descended  from  the  Emperor  Saywa  Ten  wo,*  but 


*  Saywa  made  the  laws  as  to  the  Shin  wo  and  royal  fami- 
lies. His  sixth  son  was  Sadadzumi  Sinwo.  On  Momidji 
yama  (a  little  hill  within  the  grounds  of  the  Yedo  castle)  is 
a  small  temple.  On  the  altar  are  tablets  with  the  names  of 
men  of  six  generations:  1,  Sadadzumi;  2,  of  his  son  Tsune 


THE   LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  199 

my  family  had  lost  all  its  property  through  the  power  of  our 
enemies,  and  had  sunk  down  to  Matzdaira  [a  small  village 
in  Mikawa,  from  which  the  family  of  lyeyas  takes  its  name] ; 
but  through  the  kindness  of  the  Emperor  I  have,  relying 
upon  documents  and  history,  changed  (or  traced)  the  name 
of  my  family  to  Seratta,  and  Nitta,  and  Tokungawa,  and  in 
all  time  coming  this  last  is  to  remain  the  name  of  the  family. 

*  I  have  fought  ninety  battle,  and  narrowly  escaped  with 
my  life  eighteen  times.     Having  so  escaped,  I  therefore  out 
of  gratitude  erected  eighteen  temples,  and  I  wish  my  sons 
and  descendants  to  adhere  to  the  lodo  sect  (of  Buddhists). 

*  In  Booffoo  (the  military  office;  i.e.,  Yedo)  I  built  the 
temple  of  To  yay  san,  and  requested  the  Mikado  to  install 
as  chief -priest  a  Sin  wo —i.e.,  of  the  royal  family  of  the  first 
rank  (he  is  now  known  as  Oo  yay  no  mia,  and  is  the  most 
illustrious  personage  in  Yedo  in  point  of  birth  and  honors 
acceded  to  him :  he  lives  in  To  yay  zan,  a  residence  formerly 
the  property  of  Toda,  Idzumi  no  kami)— to  pray  that  the  evil 
influences  of  the  devil  may  be  warded  off,  and  that  peace 
and  prosperity  may  prevail  over  Japan.     And  also  in  order 
that  if  the  Mikado  should  be  induced  to  side  with  traitors  or 
foreigners,  and  these  concert  with  or  gain  possession  of  the 
person  of  the  Mikado,  then  the  Dai  Shiogoon  shall  instate 
the  Oo  yay  no  mia  as  Mikado,  and  punish  the  rebels. 

*  From  ancient  times  there  have  been  different  sects  of 
religion  other  than  the  Jashiu  (Crooked  sect;    i.e.,  Chris- 
tians).    Now  any  one  of  the  people  can  adhere  to  which  he 
pleases  (except  the  Christian) ;  and  there  must  be  no  wran- 
gling among  sects,  to  the  disturbance  of  the  peace  of  the 
empire. 

moto  (who  first  took  the  name  of  Minna  moto) ;  3,  of  his  son 
Mitz  naka  (a  soldier  of  note) ;  4,  of  his  son  Yori  nobu;  5,  of 
his  son  Yori  Yoshi ;  6,  of  his  son  Yoshiyay  (otherwise  called 
Hatchimang  taro),  and  of  his  son  Yoshi  Kooni  (whose  de- 
scendants divided  into  the  Nitta  and  Ashikanga  lines).  The 
temple  was  erected  for  the  reception  of  those  tablets,  to  which 
worship  is  offered  every  morning. 


200  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

*  The  families  of  Minna  moto,  Taira,  Fusiwara,  Tatchi- 
banna,  Soongawara,  Oway,  Ariwara,  and  Kiowara,  are  all 
direct  descendants  of  Mikados.     Out  of  these  families  the 
head  of  the  military  must  be  chosen.     If  there  be  among 
these  families  men  of  good  character,  but  uneducated,  cow- 
ardly, and  ignorant  of  the  way  of  holiness,  such  are  not  to 
be  selected  for  this  office.     Therefore  it  is  necessary  that 
all  the   members  of  these  families  should   be  diligent  in 
study. 

*  To  insure  the  empire  peace,  the  foundation  must  be  laid 
in  the  ways  of  holiness  and  religion ;  and  if  men  think  they 
can  be  educated,  and  will  not  remember  this,  it  is  as  if  a 
man  were  to  go  to  a  forest  to  catch  fish,  or  thought  he  could 
draw  water  out  of  fire.     They  must  follow  the  ways  of 
holiness. 

*  All  men  are  liable  to  sickness.     If  doctors  become  rich 
they  grow  indolent,  therefore  it  is  improper  that  they  should 
acquire  territory  or  landed  property,  but  they  are  to  be  paid 
by  every  one,  high  and  low,  according  to  the  visits  paid. 

*  Those  who  study  the  stars,  and  the  higher  orders  of 
Sinto  priests,  formerly  spread  the  idea  that  they  were  worthy 
of  equal  reverence  with  the  gods.     If  in  future  they  presume 
to  do  so,  they  are  to  be  punished. 

*  In  former  times,  when  high-priests  and  ministers  of  the 
Buddhist  religion  committed  crimes,  and  were  liable  to  pun- 
ishment, the  people  thought  that  to  punish  them  was  the 
same  as  punishing  the  gods.     They  are  to  think  so  no  more, 
but  the  military  officers  are  to  punish  such  offenders  without 
fear. 

*  Booffoo,    Osaggi,    Booggi,   Itchiko  Meeko,    Nobooshi, 
Yamabooshi,  Gozay  [these  are  different  kinds  of  impostors, 
fortune-tellers,  diviners,  fox  magicians,  mesmerizers,  clair- 
voyants, etc.],  Maykura,  and  vagabonds  who  go  about  with- 
out regular  business  and  breaking  the  laws,  raising  quarrels, 
must  all  be  punished. 

*  Let  every  gentleman  with  the  right  to  wear  a  long 
sword  remember  that  his  sword  is  to  be  as  his  soul,  and  that 


THE  LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  201 

he  is  not  to  part  from  it  but  with  his  life.     If  he  forget  his 
sword  he  must  be  punished. 

*  In  the  Nengo  of  Boon  ro  ku,    1592-96,  the  two  offi- 
cers Ogochi  and  Assano  surveyed  all  Japan.     They  made  a 
report,  which  was  laid  before  the  Emperor.     A  survey  of 
the  provinces,  counties,  districts,  and  parishes  was  made, 
together  with  the  forests,  mountains,  rivers,  and  a  calcula- 
tion was  made  of  the  value.     If  a  man  possess  land  yielding 
1,000  koku,  he  is  to  provide  five  horsemen.     If  10,000,  50 
horsemen.     If  50,000,  250  horsemen.     If  100,000  koku,  1,000 
horsemen.     This  is  one  "goon"  or  regiment.     3,000  horse- 
men make  one  battalion,  over  which  is  placed  one  general  or 
Jo  sho.     Over  2,000  is  placed  a  Lieutenant-general,  or  Chiu 
sho.     Over  1,000  is  placed  a  Kasho,  or  Major-general  [all 
this  is  altered  now].     But  I  have  a  regard  for  old  customs 
and  long  service,  therefore  the  house  of  Ee  shall  be  over  all 
the  generals.     Ee  man  chiu  was  my  general,  therefore  I  pre- 
sented him  with  a  gold  Sai  hae  [a  baton  like  a  fan,  used  by 
high  military  officers] ;   and  I  made  Honda  "Kasho,"  and 
gave  him  a  paper  Sai  hae.     The  above  arrangement  all  mili- 
tary officers  are  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with. 

*  If  disputes  arise  as  to  the  boundaries  of  the  territories 
(Rioboong  of  Daimios  or  of  Hattamoto),  these  are  to  be  re- 
ferred to  an  Owometske  and  the  Kanjo  boonyo,  the  head  of 
the  Treasury.     But  if  the  disputants  refuse  to  abide  by  the 
decision,  and  fighting  ensues,  the  ground  in  dispute  shall  be 
confiscated  by  the  Shiogoon. 

*  Byshings  (Ch.,  Peichin) — i.e.,  large  retainers  of  Dai- 
mios— even  if  they  have  large  landed  possessions,  and  are 
equal  in  wealth  to  Daimios,  are  not  on  the  same  footing  with 
Jiki  shing  (i.e.,  retainers  of  the  Shiogoon),  and  are  always 
inferior  to  the  latter  in  rank,  even  though  superior  in  wealth. 

*  In  fights  among  the  common  people,  even  if  two  or 
three  are  killed  on  one  side,  both  parties  are  to  be  looked 
upon  as  criminal,  and  to  be  punished,  but  not  so  severely 
as  if  a  man  out  of  forethought  murders  another,  and  does 
not  act  on  the  heat  of  the  moment. 


202  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

*  If  a  man  employs  another  to  commit  a  murder,  if  a 
man  poisons,  and  wishes  to  make  profit  or  advantage  to 
himself  out  of  a  murder,  or  if  a  thief  murders  to  steal,  such 
men  must  be  discovered,  even  if  the  grass  of  all  Japan  is 
looked  through. 

*  Of  the  four  employments  in  Japan — the  Samurai,  two- 
sworded  gentlemen;   the  Hyaksho,  the  farmer;  Shokonini, 
artisan ;  and  the  Akindo,  merchant — the  Samurai  is  the  first 
in  rank.     If  one  of  the  other  three  are  rude  in  conduct  to  a 
Samurai,  he  himself  can  punish  him.     But  among  Samurai 
there  are  different  ranks,  some  being  Jiki  shing,  others  By- 
shing,  retainers  of  the  Shiogoon  and  retainers  of  Daimios, 
and  others  servants  of  Byshiugs,  who  also  are  Kimi  and 
Shing,  master  and  servant.     If  among  any  of  these  an  infe- 
rior is  rude  or  impolite  or  insolent,  then  he  is  to  be  treated 
as  if  he  were  an  Akindo;  i.e.,  a  merchant. 

*  That  one  man  and  one  woman  should  live  together  is 
a  great  law  of  nature,  therefore  at  the  age  of  sixteen  all  men 
and  women  ought  to  be  married.     But  no  man  is  allowed  to 
marry  a  woman  of  the  same  surname  with  himself,  but  ex- 
amination must  be  made  as  to  the  parentage  and  line  of  de- 
scent of  the  betrothed,  and  thus  the  way  of  heaven  will  be 
adhered  to. 

*  If  a  man  have  no  son  he  may  adopt  one,  but  the  father 
must  be  fifteen  years  of  age  before  he  adopts  a  son.     If  a 
Daimio  or  Hattamoto  have  no  son  or  adopted  son,  the  line 
becomes  extinct.     But  if  the  last  heir  of  a  Daimio's  family 
be  very  delicate  and  sickly,  he  may,  even  if  young,  adopt 
a  child  to  keep  up  the  line  of  the  house.     This  is  the  way  of 
Confucius. 

*  (In  old  times  the  Mikado  went  round  the  provinces.) 
Hereafter  an  officer  must  go  round  all  the  provinces  once 
every  five  or  seven  years,  and  make  a  report  to  the  Shiogoon. 
(This  is  now  obsolete.) 

*  As  to  the  old  Kokoshu,  I  will  not  interfere  with  their 
provinces ;   but  in  the  case  of  recently-made  Kokoshu  and 
Daimios,  if  they  keep  the  same  territory  for  a  very  long 


THE  LAWS    OF  IYEYAS.  203 

time,  they  become  proud,  and  oppress  the  people,  therefore 
in  the  case  of  these  latter  it  is  well  to  change  them  occa- 
sionally from  one  territory  to  another. 

*  Among  Hyaksho,  Shokonin,  and  Akindo — i.e.,  farm- 
ers, artisans,  and  merchants — if  their  wives  secretly  commit 
adultery,  the  law  of  nature  is  broken ;  and  whether  the  hus- 
band report  the  matter  to  the  officers  or  not  is  of  no  conse- 
quence, both  parties  must  be  punished ;  but  if  the  husband 
is  a  proper  spirited  man,  and  puts  the  adulterer  to  death,  he 
is  not  to  be  punished.     But  if  he  should  wish  to  pardon  both 
the  wife  and  her  paramour,  it  may  be  done.     The  judge  is 
not  to  be  hasty. 

*  If  the  same  thing  take  place  in  the  family  of  a  Samurai, 
the  judge  must  be  very  severe  and  strict  in  punishing. 

*  In  Japan  there  is  an  old  saying  that  the  same  heaven 
cannot  cover  a  man  and  the  enemy  (murderer?)  of  his  father 
or  mother  or  master  or  elder  brother.     Now,  if  a  man  seek 
to  put  to  death  such  an  enemy,  he  must  first  inform  the  Kets 
dan  sho  [this  is  a  department  which  takes  cognizance  of 
criminal  matters]  office  at  the  Hio  jo  sho,  and  say  in  how 
many  days  or  months  he  can  carry  out  his  intention.     This 
is  to  be  entered  in  the  book  of  the  office.     If  he  kills  this 
enemy  without  such  previous  intimation,  he  is  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  murderer. 

*  If  a  servant  kills  his  master,  he  is  to  be  considered  as 
the  same  as  the  Emperor's  enemy,  and  his  relations  are  all 
likewise  to  be  considered  in  the  same  light,  and  must  be  ex- 
tirpated root  and  branch.     If  a  servant  has  made  the  attempt, 
even  if  unsuccessful,  the  family  is  to  be  extirpated. — Kando 
is  to  take  the  name  of  a  family  out  of  the  book  of  Japan. 

*  In  regard  to  wives  and  concubines,  the  law  and  cus- 
toms are  the  same  as  between  master  and  servant.     The 
Mikado  is  allowed  twelve  concubines.     Daimios  and  Hatta- 
motos  are  allowed  to  have  eight.     Tei  fu — i.e.,  men  with 
titles — and  Sho  daibu  are  allowed  five.     Officers  and  Samurai 
are  allowed  two  concubines.     This  is  to  be  found  in  the  old 
holy  books  of  the  Rai  ki  rites  and  ceremonies  (Lei,  king  of 


204  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

China).  At  times  very  foolish  and  bad  men  have  made  the 
way  of  the  Rai  ki  dark,  and  have  addicted  themselves  to 
numerous  concubines,  and  so  broken  the  laws  of  nature.  In 
former  times,  whenever  Daimios  or  officers  have  lost  their 
territories  and  castles,  it  may  in  nearly  all  cases  be  traced 
to  this  cause.  Hence  the  man  is  not  upright  who  is  much 
given  to  women. 

[It  is  a  common  error  with  writers  upon  Japan  to  allege 
that  the  Japanese  are  indifferent  to  the  respectability  of  their 
wives;  and,  indeed,  that  they  rather  prefer  to  take  one  from 
among  the  public  courtesans;  and,  further,  to  convey  the 
impression  that  nearly  all  the  women  of  the  country  go 
through  some  such  course  before  marriage.  Such  an  idea 
is  contrary  to  common  sense  as  well  as  to  propriety;  and  the 
common  belief  that  the  spirits  take  a  warm  interest  and  per- 
form an  important  part  in  the  marriage  of  every  pair  in 
Japan,  shows  that  the  rite  itself  is  looked  upon  as  a  very 
important  institution,  requiring  Divine  sanction  and  bless- 
ing, and  not  to  be  lightly  entered  upon  for  the  gratification 
of  temporary  or  transient  feelings.  On  the  other  hand,  in- 
tercourse between  parties  not  married  is  looked  upon  as  dis- 
reputable, or  at  least  an  attempt  is  made  to  convey  such  an 
impression  to  young  persons.  All  such  connections  are  called 
"damass  koto";  i.e.,  a  false,  a  sham  affair;  and  it  is  said  of 
such  persons  that  the  fox — i.e.,  the  devil — has  tied  the  yeng 
or  knot.  It  is  a  common  saying  by  youths,  "I  know  that  it 
is  damass  koto ;  but  the  fox  always  brings  us  together  again, 
and  I  cannot  cut  the  thread."  As  their  idea  of  the  yeng  is 
taken  from  the  Chinese,  it  shows  that  polygamy  is  not,  with 
that  large  portion  of  the  human  race,  looked  on  with  ap- 
proval. In  China  the  first  wife  is  the  only  wife ;  the  others 
who  may  be  taken  afterward  are  concubines.  In  these  coun- 
tries the  position  of  a  prostitute  is  different  from  what  it  is 
in  Christian  communities,  as  they  are  forced  to  the  life,  and 
educated  to  it  from  childhood;  and  tha  education  and  mixing 
with  the  world  in  conversation  gives  them  often  a  cleverness 
and  power  of  pleasing  which  are  often  wanting  in  the  ladies 


THE  LAWS   OF  ITEYAS.  205 

brought  up  in  the  quiet  and  seclusion  of  a  Chinese  family. 
Besides,  they  go  to  the  same  churches  and  worship  the  same 
gods,  going  through  their  devotions  as  religiously  as  the  rest 
of  the  community.] 

*  The  relations  of  the  husband  are  with  external  things, 
those  of  the  wife  with  internal.     The  observance  of  this  leads 
to  the  peace  or  smooth- working  of  the  empire.     If  these  re- 
lations are  changed,  folly  ensues,  the  house  is  deranged,  and 
it  is  as  if  a  hen  were  to  crow  in  the  morning.     All  men  are 
to  take  care  to  avoid  the  beginning  of  this  evil. 

*  At  IwatsM,  and  at  Kawagoi  in  Musashi,  and  at  Sakura 
and  Seki  yado  and  Koga  in  Simosa,  and  at  Takasaki  and 
Oossuee  in  Kowotsuki,  and  at  Ootsu  no  mia  in  Shimo  tsuki, 
and  at  Odawarra  in  Segami,  nine  places  are  to  be  castles, 
which  are  as  the  guards  or  outposts  of  Yedo.     The  Daimios 
in  possession  of  these  castles  are  to  act  in  unison  with  Yedo 
as  a  center. 

*  At  the  castles  of  Soonpu  and  Kunowo  there  must  be 
placed  able  commanders,   as  these  places  are  the  keys  of 
Yedo ;  to  Osaka  in  Setsu  and  Fushimi  in  Yamashiro,  officers 
of  the  fourth  rank  must  be  sent,  and  an  able  Fudai  Daimio, 
besides  twelve  captains.     If  war  begins,  Osaka  and  Fusimi 
are  the  keys  of  the  country. 

*  To  the  Nijio  castle  of  the  Kubosama  at  Miako  one  of 
the  principal  Fudai  must  be  sent,  who  must  be  a  general, 
because  he  is  the  head  of  the  executive  at  Miako,  and  has 
the  direction  of  the  San  jiu  san  koku;  i.e.,  the  thirty-three 
provinces  west  of  Miako. 

*  In  the  provinces  round  Yedo  there  are  sixteen  gates 
where  travelers  are  examined.     At  each  of  these  gates  a 
Fudai  must  be  stationed,  to  see  that  the  laws  are  observed, 
and  that  not  a  spear  the  size  of  a  needle  passes  toward  Yedo, 
but  pack-horses  and  carriages  may  pass. 

*  The  office  of  Kiusiu  Tandai  (the  Viceroy  of  the  island 
of  Kiusiu)  was  formerly  held  by  the  Owotomo  family.     Since 
this  family  has  been  destroyed,  the  office  has  been  in  abey- 
ance.    I  now  command  Shim  adzu  and  Nabeshima  (Satsuma 


206  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

and  Fizen)  each  to  act  as  Viceroy  in  alternate  years,  and 
will  not  permit  any  other  to  fill  the  office. 

*  Within  the  castle  of  Yedo  are  twenty-eight  places  or 
gates  (Bansho  or  Mitskay),  with  guards;  without  there  are 
twenty-eight.     Those  within  the  castle  are  to  be  kept  by 
Fudai,  those  outside  by  Tozamma. 

*  In  regard  to  San  kin  [those  who  are  officially  on  duty 
in  Yedo]  officers,  care  must  be  taken  to  note  such  as  are  dili- 
gent and  such  as  are  indolent,  and  they  are  to  be  rewarded 
or  punished  accordingly.     Those  who  are  rich  are  to  be  put 
into  situations  entailing  expense,  and  those  who  are  poor  into 
the  less  expensive. 

*  All  the  Daimios  on  duty  in  Yedo  are  not  to  be  employed 
simultaneously,  as  some  may  be  suddenly  required  for  ex- 
traordinary service. 

*  Foreign  ships  are  allowed  to  come  to  Nagasaki.     Old 
and  trustworthy  officers  are  to  be  sent  there.     The  Mmbang 
or  guards  are  to  be  four  captains,  whose  official  income  shall 
be  more  than  3,000  kokus  each.     There  are  to  be  both  foot 
and  horse  soldiers.     As  the  expenses  are  great  there,  the 
Yakunins  or  officers  must  receive  yaku  rio;  i.e.,  additional 
money  according  to  their  business. 

*  As  by  convulsions  of  nature,  such  as  earthquakes,  the 
courses  of  rivers  are  changed,  lakes  are  made  or  dried  up, 
and  mountains  overthrown,  the  expense  of  repairing  these 
ravages  and  paying  the  laborers  is  to  be  borne  by  all  Daimios 
in  proportion  to  their  revenues. 

*  In  all  the  empire  the  main  roads  are  to  be  six  keng  wide 
(or  about  sixty  feet*).     Cross-roads  are  to  be  three  mats 
wide,  or  eighteen  feet;   Yoko  mitchi,  or  bridle-paths,  two 
mats;   Katchi  mitchi,  walking  paths,  one  mat  or  six  feet; 
Sakuba  mitchi  or  tchika  mitchi,  less  than  three  feet.     On 

*  There  are  two  keng,  one  used  at  Miako,  known  as 
Miako  no  keng,  or  Kioma,  or  Homma,  the  longer  of  the  two. 
The  other  is  the  Inaka  keng,  or  Inakama,  shorter  by  three 
or  four  inches.     Taikosama  introduced  the  second. 


THE   LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  207 

either  side  of  a  ferry  landing,  ground  is  to  be  left  to  the 
width  of  sixty  mats,  or  360  feet,  so  that  when  many  persons 
may  collect  care  may  be  taken.  This  is  the  custom  as  to 
ferries  ever  since  the  time  of  my  ancestor,  Nitta,  Oee  no 
skay,  Yoshi  shige,  Nioo  do,  called  "Josay  dono." 

*  All  the  revenues  arising  from  rates  levied  at  ferries, 
lakes,  hills,  etc.,  are  not  to  be  used  by  the  military  depart- 
ment, but  are  reserved  for  the  Mikado's  treasury. 

*  It  is  not  allowed  to  any  one  to  build  a  house  in  the  mid- 
dle of  wheat  or  rice  fields,  as  the  shadow  of  the  house  and 
trees  spoils  the  surrounding  ground,  and  renders  it  unpro- 
ductive.    If  any  dare  so  to  build,  all  the  building  is  to  be 
swept  away,  and  he  is  to  be  confined  for  100  days. 

*  For  the  settlement  of  what  is  old  plantation  and  what 
is  new,  it  is  decided  that  Furui  yama,  or  old  trees,  are  those 
which  at  the  level  of  the  eye  are  three  feet  or  more  in  cir- 
cumference.    Atarashi  yama,  or  new  plantations,  are  trees 
which  are  less  than  three  feet  at  the  level  of  the  eye. — At 
one  time  this  was  a  source  of  great  trouble  in  Japan. 

*  If  a  large  tree  overshadows  a  neighbor's  house  or  dry- 
ing-floor, so  that  rice,  grain  or  wheat  cannot  be  exposed  to 
the  sun,  when  necessary  the  branches  may  be  cut  off. 

*  Every  year  the  Kanjo  sho  is  to  send  in  a  report  of  bad 
bridges,  roads,  etc.,  in  need  of  repair. 

*  In  the  good  old-fashioned  times  the  relations  of  master 
and  servant  were  like  those  of  water  and  fish,  but  now,  in 
these  times,  people  are  apt  to  become  proud  and  to  dislike 
their  work ;  but  every  one  is  to  do  faithfully  the  work  as- 
signed to  him,  and  not  to  throw  his  work  or  duties  on  an- 
other.    This  is  very  important  to  be  remembered,  and  is  not 
difficult  to  be  learned.      The  result  is  like  water  flowing 
down  encircling  the  country,  at  which  all  the  people  rejoice. 

*  Honcho,  or  Japan,  is  the  (Shin  koku)  country  of  spirits. 
Therefore  we  have  among  us  the  Jiu  (Confucianism),  Shaku 
(Buddhist),  Sen  (Ch.,  Tseen),  Do  (Taouist),  and  other  sects. 
If  we  leave  our  gods  (Shin),  it  is  like  refusing  the  wages  of 
our  master  and  taking  them  from  another.     Therefore  a 


208  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

watch  is  to  be  kept  as  to  this.  But  as  to  Itchiko  (divina- 
tion) and  Buddhistic  practices,  the  workers  are  not  to  be 
driven  away,  but  the  people  are  not  to  follow  them. 

*  In  regard  to  dancing- women,  prostitutes,  brothels,  night 
work,  and  all  other  improper  employments,  all  these  are  like 
caterpillars  or  locusts  in  the  country.    Good  men  and  writers 
in  all  times  have  written  against  them.     But  as  it  is  a  law 
of  nature  that  man  should  desire  the  society  of  woman,  it  is 
enacted  that  these  people  and  places  shall  not  be  tolerated; 
but  as  it  would,  if  the  laws  were  rigidly  carried  out,  be  a 
perpetual  punishing  and  nothing  else,  they  are  not  to  be 
administered  severely,  but  out  of  a  regard  for  the  uneducated 
and  the  nature  of  mankind  these  offenses  are  to  be  lightly 
passed  over. 

*  It  has  been  the  wont  of  my  ancestors  ever  to  follow  out 
the  thread  of  the  customs  of  (Yoritomo)  Kamakura  dono, 
and  no  other  customs  are  to  be  observed.     But  the  heart 
and  goodness  of  Hige  mori  (Komatzu  dono,  eldest  son  of  Kio 
mori)  is  never  to  be  forgotten. — This  refers  to  the  steady 
opposition  made  by  him  to  the  "mauvais  desseins"  of  his 
father,  Kio  mori,  against  the  family  of  Yoritomo  in  1170-80 
A.D.     He  is  called  in  the  "  Annales  des  Empereurs"  "homme 
habile,  vertueux,  et  juste."     He  was  extremely  distressed  at 
hearing  of  the  treachery  of  his  father  in  inviting  the  regent 
to  a  conference,  and  then  ordering  him  to  be  cut  to  pieces. 
After  his  death,  Kio  mori,  seeing  ne  one  to  oppose  him,  re- 
gardless of  everything,  acted  according  to  his  own  pleasure. 

'  When  a  master  dies,  his  servants  think  it  their  duty  to 
commit  suicide.  This  is  an  old  custom,  but  it  is  quite  un- 
reasonable, and  nothing  can  justify  a  man  in  so  acting. 
Sometimes,  instead  of  committing  suicide,  there  is  a  cus- 
tom of  putting  into  the  grave  figures  representing  servants. 
This  is  more  unreasonable  than  the  other.  Such  persons  are 
not  upright,  and  those  who  in  future  do  these  things  must  be 
severely  punished. 

*  If  war  arise,  the  (Taisho)  commander-in-chief  has  no 
other  business  but  to  mold  men  to  his  use.     The  master  of 


THE   LAWS    OF   IYEYAS.  209 

men  must  know  what  each  is  useful  for.  Men  are  like  in- 
struments— one  cannot  do  the  work  of  a  chisel  with  a  ham- 
mer ;  one  cannot  make  a  small  hole  with  a  saw,  but  a  gimlet 
must  be  used.  The  principle  is  the  same  as  to  men.  Men 
with  brains  are  to  be  used  for  work  requiring  brains;  men 
of  strong  frame  for  work  requiring  strength ;  men  of  strong 
heart  for  work  requiring  courage.  Weak  men  are  to  be  put 
into  poor  places.  Every  man  in  his  proper  place.  There  are 
places  for  weak  men  and  places  for  fools.  All  this  must  be 
regulated  by  the  head  and  brains  of  the  Taisho.  Soldiers 
are  to  be  chosen  on  these  principles,  so  that  with  a  thousand 
men  in  one  body,  the  whole  may  act  together,  and  the  em- 
pire have  peace.  This  is  always  to  be  kept  in  memory. 

*  If  one  man  rises  to  be  full  of,  or  puffed  up  with,  mili- 
tary power  (Boo  i  ippai),  he  will  try  to  make  himself  equal 
with  or  superior  to  the  highest,  the  Mikado.     This  is  a  very 
serious  error ;  there  is  always  a  tendency  to  it.     But  when  it 
happens,  it  is  natural  that  he  should  become  proud,  and  not 
respect  the  Mikado.     The  land  of  spirits — i.e.,  Japan — will 
be  lost.     The  judgment  of  Heaven  will  assuredly  fall  upon 
him.  —This  is  intended  for  his  successors,  the  Shiogoons,  who 
might  be  puffed  up  with  their  position. 

*  The  Sinwo  kay  and   Mia  gata — i.e.,  the  families  of 
those  of  the  royal  blood — are  the  supporters  of  the  Mikado. 
All  the  high  ranks  of  the  Mikado's  court,  the  Koongyo  and 
the  Koongays,  are  not  to  alter  the  old  laws  of  the  empire, 
but  are  to  pay  the  highest  respect  to  the  Mikado,  and  are 
not  to  be  rude  or  insolent. 

*  As  to  the  Hinrei  Skiaku  [the  descendants  of  old  Shio- 
goons, s.uch  as  Ashikanga,  Hojio  and  others,  to  whom  rank 
and  territory  have  been  assigned],  their  history  and  pedigree 
are  to  be  inscribed  in  a  book.     What  their  customs  may  be 
is  of  no  consequence  to  me,  but  if  they  interfere  with  the 
laws  or  the  government  established  by  me,  or  even  if  they 
become  very  proud  and  oppress  the  people,  I  will  punish 
them. 

*  As  to  Nagoya,  Wakayama  and  Mito  [known  now  as 


210  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Owarri,  Kii  and  Mito,  the  San  kay,  or  "three  families," 
sons  of  lyeyas],  and  the  fifteen  Kammong,  the  heir  must 
always  be  the  eldest  son,  and  the  territory  of  each  cannot 
be  divided  among  two  or  three  sons. 

*  Diamios  with  incomes  of  100,000  koku,  and  the  Roshin 
or  Gorojiu,  and  officers  upon  outside  business,  and  all  cap- 
tains of  the  guards,  are  to  be  of  the  same  rank  as  Kokushu. 

*  In  regard  to  Fudai  and  Tozamma,  and  wealthy  retain- 
ers of  Daimios  (Byshings  and  Karo),  in  going  from  and  re- 
turning to  Yedo  they  must  observe  the  laws  of  the  road,  and 
they  are  not  to  make  their  trains  very  splendid  or  very  poor 
— i.e.,  a  man  of  large  income  is  not  to  go  with  a  very  splen- 
did train,  neither  is  a  man  with  small  income  to  go  with  a 
very  meager  retinue;    and  they  are  not,   as  if  they  were 
puffed  up,  and  to  show  their  military  power,  to  give  trouble 
to  the  hotels,  or  oppress  the  coolies  and  porters  on  the  road. 
This  is  to  be  notified  to  Daimios  each  time  they  come  to 
Yedo. 

*  As  to  ships,  the  sea,  rivers,  roads,  porters,  horses,  the 
rates  are  now  all  settled  for  greater  or  shorter  distances,  and 
also  as  to  weights  to  be  carried ;  but  all  government  carriage 
is  to  be  done  with  the   greatest  expedition,   regardless  of 
expense. 

*  All  San  kin  (those  Daimios  officially  resident  in  Yedo) 
are  to  make  a  present  (or  rather  pay  a  tax)  to  the  Gorogiu, 
and  to  the  under  officers  of  state.     Those  whose  incomes  ex- 
ceed 10,000  koku  are  to  give  gold,  or  kin  badai — i.e.,  gold 
instead  of  a  horse;    if  below  10,000  koku,  they  give  silver 
(gin  ba  dai)  to  each  of  the  high  officers.     Wealthy  Daimios, 
with  large  official  incomes,  are  to  give  much,  those  with 
small  incomes  are  to  give  little.     This  money  the  Gorogiu 
is  to  appropriate  to  the  expenses  of  the  office. 

*  Among  the  servants  of  the  Shiogoon  are  those  who 
have  much  ability  and  influence,  and  those  who  have  little 
of  either;  they  are  to  act  together,  and  mutually  to  assist 
one  another.     By  this   means  the   government  will   work 
smoothly.     Men  must  be  divided  according  to  their  abil- 


THE   LAWS   OF   IYEYAS.  211 

ities  and  dispositions,  but  they  must  be  rewarded  or  pun- 
ished according  to  their  actions. 

*  When  I  built  the  Danring   (eighteen  temples)  before 
mentioned,  I  put,  or  I  made  them,  San  mong  (hill-doors). 
[The  San  mong  temple  of  Hiyay  san  near  Miako  is  a  copy 
of  the  Tien  Tai  shan  of  China.]     The  Ten  dai  no  zass  (head 
of  the  Buddhists)  asked  me  why  I  had  built  these  San  mong 
or  hill-doors,  saying  that  he  was  the  same  as  the  center  of 
heaven,  and  had  his  seat  upon  the  three  stars  (San  tai  say, 
three  sets  of  stars).     I  returned  no  answer.     Now  it  is  my 
wish  that  long  life  may  be  given  to  the  Mikado   (10,000 
years) ;  therefore  in  the  sixty-six  provinces  I  built  seventy- 
three.     I  have  written  in  a  book  the  names  and  numbers  of 
these  temples,  and  have  sent  this  to  the  temple  of  Ten  dai 
san  (in  Miako),  therefore  be  it  known  that  no  other  San 
mong  temple  is  to  be  built. — This  San  mong  must  allude  to 
some  kind  of  Buddhist  temples  of  that  name. 

*  AH  oo  rin  kay  (military)  officers  and  others  under  the 
Shiogoon  have  since  the  time  of  Kamakura  dono  (Yoritomo) 
received  a  commission  from  the  Mikado.    All  these  are  under 
the  commands  of  the  Shiogoon.     The  business  is  the  same 
as  that  of  the  Jin  nee  kang,  office  of  the  gods  in  old  time. 
Therefore,  when  a  death  occurs  in  my  palace,  or  among 
those  who  come  to  my  residence  (i.e.,  Yedo),  the  customs 
of  the  Jin  nee  kang  are  to  be  observed. — The  custom  is  to 
consider,  when  a  death  takes  place  in  a  house,  all  connected 
with  it  as  temporarily  unclean.     In  the  Emperor's  family 
women  at  certain  times  move  to  another  house;    when  a 
child  is  born,  the  father  and  mother  are  considered  unclean 
for  a  time,  and  cannot  go  to  office  or  to  a  temple ;  when  a 
death  takes  place,  persons  entering  a  house  either  do  not 
take  off  their  shoes,  or  put  on  others  for  the  purpose,  and 
there  should  be  neither  smoking,  eating,  nor  drinking  in  the 
house  for  three  days. 

*  If  a  man  neglects  his  duties  and  gives  himself  up  to 
gambling  and  drinking,  and  thinks  that  because  he  is  of 
rank  he  may  do  so,  and  so  seduce  others  beneath  him  to  the 


HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

same  practices;  if  such  a  one  has  not  been  taught  that  such 
conduct  is  wrong  by  his  teacher,  it  shall  be  considered  the 
teacher's  crime ;  but  if  he  has  been  taught,  he  himself  shall 
be  considered  the  offender,  and  dealt  with  accordingly ;  but 
in  these  offenses  there  are  great  differences  in  degree,  and 
some  are  to  be  punished  severely,  others  lightly. 

*  Men  are  prone  to  become  indolent  and  lazy  at  work, 
and  in  consequence  become  thieves,  breaking  the  laws  and 
occasioning  trouble :  all  these  must  be  severely  punished  by 
death ;  and  if  any  one  sets  houses  on  fire,  forges  seals  or  sig- 
natures,   poisons,   coins  false  money — such  shall   be  either 
burned  alive  or  be  speared  on  a  cross. 

*  A  government   can  easily  gather   information   as  to 
what  men  do  in  their  business,  but  as  to  what  they  think 
in  their  hearts  it  is  more  difficult.     Kamakura  dono,  in  ref- 
erence to  this,  followed  the  customs  of  the  Tong  dynasty  of 
China,  and  had  recourse  to  informers,  offering  rewards  to 
such  as  should  give  information  as  to  evil-disposed  persons. 

*  In  regard  to  the  Go  koku,  or  five  grains — i.e.,  grain  of 
every  kind — if  these  are  not  abundant,  the  way  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Emperor  is  obscure.     If  crime  abounds,  the 
Shiogoon  shows  himself  destitute  of  executive  energy.     He 
himself  must  be  active  and  diligent  in  his  own  duties. 

*  The  higher  men  (?  nobility)  make  the  laws,  and  the 
lower  classes  follow  and  obey ;  but  it  is  sometimes  difficult 
to  act  up  to  the  rules  laid  down,  therefore  men  of  rank  are 
not  to  order  one  thing  and  do  another  themselves,  but  are  to 
take  care  that  they  carry  out  what  they  profess,  and  observe 
the  laws  which  they  lay  down. 

*  In  regard  to  Kokushu  (territorial  princes,  or  lords  of  a 
province)  and  Joshiu  (larger  Daimios),  if  they  act  in  such 
a  way  as  if  not  to  amount  to  crime,  still  may  be  deserving 
of  censure,  they  cannot  be  punished  personally,  but  they  are 
to  be  ordered  to  carry  out  some  expensive  undertaking  for 
the  benefit  of  the  country. — Such  as  making  a  fort;  that  at 
Kanagawa  was  thus  made  by  Oki  no  kami. 

*  Upon  the  death  of  the  Kinri  (the  Emperor),  or  Sento 


THE   LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  213 

(retired  Emperor),  or  the  Emperor's  wife  or  near  relative, 
all  music  and  shows  of  pleasure  are  to  cease  for  a  time.  If 
one  of  the  San  ko  (either  the  Oo-  or  Sa-  or  Nai-daijin)  dies, 
or  the  Dai  shiogoon,  notice  shall  be  given  of  how  many  days 
this  cessation  shall  be. — Mourning  for  the  Emperor  lasts  for 
thirteen  months. 

*  When  a  new  Emperor  ascends  the  throne,  the  expenses 
are  all  to  be  undertaken  by  me,  the  Shiogoon,  and  in  these  I 
must  be  liberal. 

*  If  any  representative  of  a  foreign  nation  comes  to  the 
country,  the  officers  must  take  care  that  everything  is  in 
good  order — that  horses  and  horse-furniture  be  good,  the 
houses  and  roads  clean.     If  they  are  dirty,  it  can  be  seen  at 
a  glance  whether  the  nation  is  prosperous  or  the  reverse. 

*  If  a  foreign  vessel  should  be  wrecked  on  the  shore  of 
Japan,  the  officers  of  government  are  to  be  immediately  in- 
formed, and  an  interpreter  is  to  be  sent  to  ask  what  they 
require.     Sometimes  the  officers  may  require  to  be  strict  and 
severe,  at  other  times  hospitable  and  kind.     The  vessel  is  to 
be  watched,  and  no  trading  allowed. 

*  It  is  said  that  the  Mikado,  looking  down  on  his  people, 
loves  them  as  a  mother  does  her  children.     The  same  may 
be  said  of  me  and  of  my  government.     This  benevolence  of 
mind  is  called  Jin.     This  Jin  may  be  said  to  consist  of  five 
parts;  these  are  humanity,  integrity,  courtesy,  wisdom  and 
truth.     Therefore  I  have  divided  the  government  into  To- 
zamma,  Fudai,  Shing  and  Sso.     This  mode  of  government 
is  according  to  the  way  of  heaven.     This  I  have  done  to 
show  that  I  am  impartial,  and  am  not  assisting  my  own 
relations  and  friends  only.     Between  the  Shing  and  Sso  it 
is  improper  that  there  should  be  any  communications,  and 
therefore  they  are  not  to  be  in  correspondence  with  each  other. 

*  If  punishments  and  rewards  are  distributed  unjustly, 
upright  men  will  disappear.     The  people  will  become  timid 
and  niggardly.     Therefore  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  there  be  not  the  smallest  act  of  injustice  committed  by 
government  officers. 


214  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

These  laws  have  not  been  made  recently  by  me,  but  have 
existed  from  generation  to  generation  in  the  Minnamoto 
family.  What  I  have  written  is  like  a  reflection  in  a  mirror. 
The  arrow,  if  it  does  not  pierce  the  bull's-eye,  will  perhaps 
strike  the  target. 

Old  customs  must,  when  found  good  on  examination,  be 
retained. 

The  principles  and  sentiments,  and  at  times  the  very 
words  of  these  laws,  seem  to  be  taken  from  the  writings  of 
the  old  sages  of  China,  Confucius  and  Mencius.  Confucius, 
in  the  Chung  yung,  seems  to  have  been  the  model  after 
which  the  code  was  drawn  up.  It  is  founded  upon  the  five 
duties  of  universal  obligation — that  of  a  sovereign  and  min- 
ister, of  a  father  and  son,  of  husband  and  wife,  of  elder  and 
younger  brothers,  and  between  friends ;  and  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  administration  of  government  lies  in  getting 
proper  men,  and  that  such  are  to  be  obtained  by  means  of 
the  ruler's  own  character. 

The  idea  of  turning  to  look  inward  and  examine  one's 
self  is  prominent  in  the  writings  of  Mencius. 

Mencius  said  people  have  this  common  saying — "The 
empire,  the  state,  the  family.  The  root  of  the  empire  is  the 
state — the  root  of  the  state  is  in  the  family — the  root  of 
the  family  is  in  the  person  of  its  head."  And  lyeyas  seems 
to  have  recognized  these  principles  as  the  foundation  of  his 
rule,  believing  that  when  too  much  weight  is  given  to  the 
state,  despotism  ensues;  when  the  family  preponderates, 
oligarchy  of  an  aristocracy  prevails ;  and  where  the  interests 
of  the  individual  man  become  paramount,  democracy  rears 
its  head. 

Those  who  framed  the  code  were  in  all  probability  ac- 
quainted with  the  writings  of  the  Chinese  sages  and  their 
commentators,  and  perhaps  they  refer,  in  the  allusions  to 
Kamakura  dono  or  Yoritomo,  to  some  laws  laid  down  by 
him  or  his  officers,  who  had  more  opportunity  of  studying 
the  Chinese  writings  than  could  fall  to  the  lot  of  men  who 


THE   LAWS   OF  IYEYAS.  215 

had  been  brought  up  in  the  troublous  times  when  lyeyas 
was  a  youth. 

The  consideration  of  such  laws  laid  down  by  lyeyas,  and 
which  are  more  or  less  still  in  force,  leads  to  a  comparison 
with  the  condition  of  Europe  during  the  time  when  feudal 
institutions  were  in  force,  the  genius  of  these  laws  being  in 
many  respects  the  counterpart  of  that  which  was  in  force 
in  Europe  in  feudal  times.  The  constitution  of  all  warlike 
nations  in  early  times  has  tended  to  this  condition.  The 
discoveries  of  gunpowder  and  printing  have  been  the  great 
means  of  breaking  down  this  system ;  and  in  our  day  steam 
is  rapidly  breaking  up  what  these  had  left. 

The  man  to  whom  had  been  given  the  most  capacity  for 
dealing  with  men  and  for  conducting  war,  was  selected  to 
take  the  command  of  those  who  saw  these  qualities  in  him, 
and  confided  in  his  ability  to  prosecute  any  undertaking  to  a 
successful  termination.  Of  necessity  such  a  man  must  be 
a  soldier.  He  must  have  the  capacity  to  govern  as  well  as 
to  fight;  to  make  laws  as  well  as  to  lead  in  battle;  to  con- 
ciliate men  as  well  as  to  control  them.  He  divides  the  spoils 
among  his  followers,  allowing  to  each  a  proportion  according 
to  his  merit. 

A  larger  portion  was  retained  by  the  chief,  because,  inde- 
pendently of  being  able  to  appropriate  it,  he  was  to  rule  over 
all,  and  to  incur  expenses  on  behalf  of  all  in  the  general  con- 
trol of  the  acquired  territory. 

This  chief  generally  retained  in  his  own  hand  certain 
privileges,  such  as  a  more  or  less  controlling  voice  in  the 
legislature,  power  of  life  and  death,  and  of  making  peace  or 
war  and  treaties  of  commerce,  coinage  of  money,  right 
of  property  in  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  and  other  rights. 
He  had  the  power  of  conferring  some  of  these  on  the  barons 
holding  land  from  him  and  under  him  as  superior.  By  sub- 
division a  feudal  kingdom  was  cut  up  into  many  small  but 
semi-independent  baronies.  The  execution  of  legal  decisions 
became  difficult,  offenders  escaping  to  other  jurisdictions. 

Through  the  greater  expenses  falling  upon  the  king,  his 


216  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

power  often  waned,  while  that  of  the  barons  waxed  greater; 
and  to  render  their  independence  perpetual,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  assure  a  support  to  the  chief,  the  system  of  entail 
was  fallen  upon. 

The  barons  were  ever  and  again  adding  to  their  property 
and  power  by  marriages,  by  successions,  by  purchase,  or  by 
force  and  might.  Honors  and  even  offices  became  hereditary. 

So  long  as  weapons  of  war  were  in  each  man's  possession, 
and  every  one  was  in  proportion  to  his  personal  strength  and 
activity  a  soldier,  no  great  expense  fell  upon  the  chief.  His 
followers  could  be  summoned  at  an  hour's  notice. 

But  when  the  introduction  of  gunpowder  rendered  per- 
sonal strength  and  activity  of  comparatively  small  value,  it 
increased  the  expense  falling  upon  the  leader.  Trained  skill 
required  time,  and  education  was  necessary.  Large  guns, 
requiring  expensive  ammunition,  called  for  a  more  expen- 
sive system  of  fortification.  The  lesser  barons  could  not 
undertake  these.  The  expenses  of  war  fell  entirely  upon  the 
king.  Trained  soldiers  required  a  standing  army.  "When 
there  is  any  coast  to  defend,  a  navy  is  required. 

In  the  practical  working  of  the  system  of  lyeyas,  there 
was  the  difference  between  Japan  and  European  countries, 
that,  until  the  use  of  steam,  she  had  no  neighbors  to  dread 
as  foes  or  to  covet  as  vassals.  There  was  always  an  attempt 
to  compensate  for  the  want  of  this  external  pressure  in  the 
duality  or  separation  of  interests  between  the  Mikado,  the 
fountain  of  honors,  and  the  executive,  by  whatever  name 
the  head  officer  might  be  called,  whether  Kwanrei  or  Shio- 
goon. 

Security  was  sought  for  by  the  laws  of  lyeyas,  not  against 
external  foes,  but  against  the  decadence  of  the  dynasty  from 
internal  weakness,  or  from  the  power  of  those  who  ought  to 
be  supporters  becoming  overwhelming.  There  was  in  Japan 
no  call  for  great  expenses,  either  in  keeping  up  fortifica- 
tions, armaments,  or  a  standing  army  or  navy.  No  embas- 
sadors  were  dispatched  to  foreign  courts,  to  consume  the 
revenues  of  the  empire.  Against  the  tendency  to  the  ag- 


THE   LAWS    OF   IYEYAS.  217 

grandizement  of  the  barons,  and  their  increase  in  wealth  and 
power  by  marriage  and  other  means,  lyeyas  fixed  the  amount 
of  territory  which  each  lord  was  to  possess.  Land  which 
produced  of  rice  annually  a  certain  quantity  was  allotted  to 
each  baron,  according  to  his  rank  or  rights.  But  one  great 
difference  between  this  system  and  that  of  entails  in  Europe 
lay  in  this,  that  the  estate  granted  to  each  baron  could  not 
be  added  to  or  diminished,  either  by  marriage  or  by  purchase 
or  by  might,  except  by  express  permission  and  grant  from 
the  Shiogoon,  the  superior  of  all.  This  law  tended  to  pre- 
vent the  enormous  accumulation  of  land  in  a  few  hands. 
This  land  they  might  lease  or  grant  to  their  retainers,  some 
of  whom  were  very  wealthy ;  but  so  long  as  such  a  one  was 
a  retainer  of  a  Daimio,  whatever  his  wealth  might  be,  there 
was  little  chance  of  his  rising  to  honors  in  the  state. 

The  barons  in  Japan  are  bound  to  bring  a  certain  num- 
ber of  men  to  assist  the  lord  superior  in  war.  Each  of  these 
followers  is  paid  by  the  baron  by  so  much  land  producing  a 
certain  quantity  of  rice. 

Succession  to  these  lands  is  hereditary,  but  not  strictly  to 
the  eldest  son,  while  the  custom  so  common  over  the  East 
of  adoption  is  allowed,  and  all  the  rights  of  a  son  are  con- 
ferred upon  the  adopted  one.  Many  of  the  present  Daimios 
are  adopted  children — frequently  no  relative  whatever  of 
the  person  who  so  adopts.  But  while  lyeyas  declared  that 
these  fiefs  should  be  hereditary,  he  at  the  same  time  laid  it 
down  as  a  principle  that  it  was  good  that  these  lesser  lords 
should  not  remain  too  long  in  one  place,  but  that,  when 
occasion  seemed  to  require  it,  it  was  well  to  change  them 
from  one  barony  to  another.  He  would  no  doubt  have  gladly 
laid  down  a  similar  principle  as  to  the  Kokushu,  or  lords  of 
provinces,  but  their  power  and  influence  were  too  great  to  be 
lightly  interfered  with.  This  power  has  been  frequently  put 
forth  down  to  the  present  time.  A  Daimio  with  an  income 
of  10,000  koku  is  ordered  to  remove  to  the  territory  of  an- 
other with  the  same  revenue;  or  perhaps,  if  there  be  some 
cause  for  reproof,  a  Daimio  will  be  transferred  to  a  territory 

10 


218  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

in  the  far  north,  such  as  Tanagura,  and  the  baron  then  living 
there,  who  may  be  the  son  of  one  who  had  been  similarly 
deported,  is  removed  to  the  better  locality. 

lyeyas  provided  for  the  payment  of  stated  presents  on 
arrival  at  Yedo.  At  other  times  gifts  are  made  to  the  Shio- 
goon;  and,  as  under  the  feudal  system,  presents  are  to  be 
offered  on  other  occasions,  such  as  marriage  or  becoming 
of  age. 

The  civil  authority  of  the  Shiogoon  was  liable  to  much 
limitation,  and  this  lyeyas  seems  to  have  expected.  At  firs* 
an  officer  was  deputed  by  the  Shiogoon  to  reside  in  the  terri- 
tories of  the  greater  barons,  and  to  report  to  Yedo  when  he 
saw  anything  taking  place  worthy  of  animadversion.  But 
this  has  been  done  away  with,  and  the  Kokushu  are  virtu- 
ally in  full  possession  of  power,  each  in  his  own  provincial 
territory. 

Under  the  laws  above  recited  the  men  of  the  country  are 
divided  into  four  classes — the  gentry,  agriculturists,  artisans, 
and  merchants.  The  gentry  are  separated  from  the  other 
classes  by  the  distinctive  badge  of  wearing  a  long  sword, 
which  they  are  warned  never  to  forget.  By  this  sword  the 
class  is  distinguished  over  the  whole  empire.  But  the  class 
is  again  subdivided  by  the  respective  badges,  shields  or  coats- 
of-arms  of  the  chiefs,  worn  prominently  on  some  part  of  the 
dress — generally  on  the  back  and  on  each  breast. 

The  right  of  wearing  two  swords  brings  with  it  privileges 
which  may  be  looked  upon  as  means  of  paying  the  class — 
somewhat  as  purveyance  under  the  feudal  laws  of  England 
conveyed  privileges,  which  were  gained  generally  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  agricultural  class  along  the  highroads.  Under 
these  laws  all  two-sworded  men  are  allowed  to  demand  car- 
riage for  themselves  and  goods  along  the  highway  at  a  much 
lower  rate  than  others,  and  this  naturally  ends  in  paying 
nothing.  Their  goods  are  permitted  to  enter  towns  free  of 
customs,  or  at  much-reduced  rates.  Such  privileges  become 
in  time  very  irksome  to  the  class  which  has  to  pay  for  them. 

While  a  Daimio  is  not  permitted  to  add  to  his  territories 


THE  LAWS    OF  IYEYA3.  219 

by  purchase  or  marriage,  these  may  be  increased  at  the  will 
and  by  the  favor  of  the  Shiogoon,  or  they  may  be  diminished 
by  his  fiat.  While,  if  any  officer  has  been  thought  deserving 
of  a  little  punishment,  he  may  be  desired  to  build  a  fort  or  a 
bridge,  or  make  a  road,  or  do  something  which  shall  benefit 
the  country,  and  at  the  same  tune  act  as  a  pecuniary  fine 
upon  the  person  upon  whom  the  honor  is  conferred. — The 
fort  at  Kanagawa  was  built  in  this  way. 

One  of  the  strongest  measures  of  control  used  by  the 
Shiogoon  toward  the  barons  is  put  forward  when  they  have 
been  known  to  be  intriguing  against  their  superiors.  This 
is  sometimes  carried  out  without  trial  or  previous  step  of  any 
kind,  and  consists  in  the  intimation  to  the  lord  that  he  is  to 
divest  himself  of  the  insignia  of  rank,  hand  over  the  power 
which  he  holds  as  a  Daimio  to  some  other  individual  (gen- 
erally a  near  relative  and  a  minor),  and  confine  himself  to 
one  room  until  further  orders.  Such  an  intimation  would 
probably  not  be  given  unless  the  government  were  sure  of  its 
ground.  But  the  power  consists  in  the  position  in  which  his 
own  retainers  stand  toward  their  lord.  If  he,  upon  receiving 
such  a  notice,  obeys  it  at  once,  no  other  changes  take  place; 
the  individual  is  simply  removed  out  of  the  way,  and  the 
offices  are  transferred  to  his  successor.  The  wealthy  and 
powerful  vassals  remain,  with  their  property,  unaffected  by 
the  step.  But  should  he  presume  to  offer  resistance,  and 
rise  in  rebellion,  all  the  retainers  suffer  with  him.  They 
will  all  be,  in  case  of  the  failure  of  the  rebellion,  deprived 
of  their  territories,  which  will  be  taken  from  them  and  given 
to  others.  It  is  therefore  the  interest  of  all  those  about  a 
Daimio  that  he  should  obey  a  sentence  which  they  all  have 
an  idea  he  more  or  less  deserved.  All  those  about  him, 
therefore,  insist  upon  his  abdication;  and  he,  feeling  him- 
self alone  and  forsaken,  is  obliged  quietly  to  yield,  and  thus 
trouble  to  the  whole  province  is  averted.  But  in  the  case 
where  iho  retainers  believe  that  the  cause  of  their  master  is 
a  right  one,  and  that  he  has  the  power  as  well  as  the  ability 
to  defend  himself,  they  will  rally  round  him,  and  defy  even 


220  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

the  highest  government.  This  took  place  in  the  case  of 
Choshiu  against  the  Shiogoou ;  while  the  cases  of  Satsuma, 
Owarri,  and  others,  who  were  deposed  by  the  regent  in 
1858,  show  how  the  power  is  at  times  exercised. 

As  a  further  means  of  warding  off  intrigue  and  plotting 
among  these  powerful  and  wealthy  barons,  the  plan  was 
adopted  by  which  all  were  brought  to  the  court  of  the  Shio- 
goon,  as  inferiors  or  vassals,  to  pay  homage.  The  custom 
among  these  vassals  of  paying  their  respects  once  a  year  had 
been  long  in  use  in  an  unsettled  and  desultory  way  at  Miako, 
but  henceforth  lyeyas  insisted  upon  each  Daimio  visiting  his 
capital  of  Yedo  at  certain  periods,  fixed  in  proportion  to  the 
distance  of  his  territory.  And  he  further  insisted  that  his 
court  should  be  looked  upon  as  the  natural  residence  of  these 
lords,  by  their  having  their  wives  and  families  always  resi- 
dent hi  Yedo.  And  it  was  this  law  which  rendered  such 
stringent  measures  to  be  taken  at  Hakonay  and  other  gates 
to  prevent  the  passage  outward  of  females.  By  this  con- 
stant moving  of  the  Daimios  to  and  fro  between  Yedo  and 
the  provinces,  money  was  circulated;  large  sums  were  spent 
in  Yedo  on  the  establishments  they  kept  up  there,  and  large 
sums  were  spent  on  the  way  and  at  the  residence  of  each  in 
his  own  province. 

lyeyas  seems  further  to  have  been  jealous  of  any  inter- 
course being  carried  on  between  these  Daimios  one  with  an- 
other, and  in  these  laws  measures  are  taken  to  prevent  this 
as  much  as  possible.  The  different  classes  of  Daimios  met 
in  different  rooms  in  his  castle,  and  one  of  one  class  is  not 
allowed  to  go  into  the  meeting-room  of  another. 

All  these  compulsory  measures  of  vassalage  in  Yedo  have 
tended  to  keep  up  in  the  Daimios  a  feeling  of  inferiority  to 
the  family  in  power,  and  are  liable,  when  the  influence  of 
this  family  wanes,  to  become  very  irksome. 

The  general  features  of  the  country  help  with  these  aids 
to  keep  the  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man  or  family.  The 
number  of  islands,  and  the  length  and  narrowness  of  the 
island  of  Nippon,  divided  as  it  is  by  a  mountainous  ridge, 


THE  LAWS   OF  IYETAS.  221 

prevent  intercommunication  being  kept  up  or  leagues  being 
formed  between  contiguous  proprietors. 

It  is  the  duty  of  one  set  of  officers  at  the  court  of  Yedo  to 
inform  each  Daimio  when  he  is  to  come  to  the  capital,  and 
it  is  probably  their  care  to  see  that  the  owners  of  contiguous 
properties  shall  not  be  at  the  same  time  at  their  respective 
country-seats. 

Many  of  these  customs  had  been  in  use  in  the  empire 
during  the  rule  of  those  who  had  preceded  lyeyas ;  but  he 
seems  to  have  gathered  what  he  thought  good,  and  strength- 
ened what  seemed  weak,  so  as  to  provide  a  firm  basis  on 
which  to  place  his  dynasty,  and  inclose  it  with  safeguards 
that  should  resist  attacks  from  the  restless  and  warlike  men 
upon  whose  shoulders  his  seat  had  been  raised. 

With  the  wish  natural  to  a  great  administrator,  lyeyas 
settled  all  the  offices  about  his  court  for  the  good  govern- 
ment of  the  empire.  These  are  mentioned  above;  but  as 
these  offices  require  a  more  minute  mention,  they  are  given 
more  in  detail  below.  These  rules  run  over  a  large  ground 
in  their  dealings  with  or  allusions  to  all  ranks  and  relations. 

Except  in  the  cases  of  high  treason  or  open  rebellion,  the 
families  of  the  feudal  barons  were  not  to  be  attainted.  Pri- 
mogeniture and  male  succession  were  encouraged  as  much 
as  possible,  and  adoption  of  heirs  sanctioned  even  during 
early  youth,  and  sons  so  adopted  can  be  returned. 

The  higher  Daimios  were  not  allowed  to  take  office  or  to 
have  any  part  in  the  government,  except  by  giving  their 
opinion  when  asked. 

The  Board  or  Parliament,  where  all  officers  on  duty  in 
Yedo  met  for  discussion  and  consultation  on  general  busi- 
ness (the  Hio  josho),  was  settled. 

The  punishment  of  crimes  was  modified,  and  the  old  cruel 
modes  of  death  done  away  with.  Clemency  toward  enemies 
was  urged  as  the  proper  method  of  gaining  them  over. 

Recreations  for  all  men  were  allowed  and  approved  of  as 
useful  both  to  body  and  spirit. 

Reverence  toward  the  Emperor  was  inculcated  by  the 


222  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

example  of  the  Shiogoon,  and  by  advice  to  the  high  officers 
about  the  court. 

The  high-priest  at  Yedo  was  to  be  appointed  from  a  near 
relative  of  the  Emperor,  in  order  that,  if  there  should  be  a 
party  siding  with  the  Emperor,  the  Shiogoon  might  have  a 
rival  of  the  family  in  his  own  hands  and  interest. 

The  exemption  from  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  claimed 
by  the  priesthood,  and  in  which  they  were  strongly  backed 
up  by  the  Roman  Catholic  priests,  was  abolished.  A  ten- 
dency to  the  idea  that  the  priesthood,  and  priests  as  indi- 
viduals, were  hedged  in  by  a  divinity,  which  gave  them  a 
license  for  the  committal  and  an  immunity  from  the  pun- 
ishment of  crimes,  was  pointed  out  as  an  evil  to  be  guarded 
against. 

Gentlemen  having  the  right  to  wear  two  swords  were 
to  consider  such  an  honorable  responsibility. 

The  empire  was  surveyed  and  good  maps  were  made  of 
every  district. 

The  power  of  judging  of  what  was  insolence  from  an  in- 
ferior to  a  superior,  and  the  power  of  punishing  it,  were 
given,  in  a  rather  unguarded  way,  to  individuals. 

Marriage  was  encouraged,  and  placed  upon  the  footing 
of  its  being  the  way  of  heaven  that  one  man  should  have 
one  wife. 

The  reverence  to  be  shown  toward  father,  mother,  elder 
brothers,  and  teachers,  is  put  forth  upon  the  old  Chinese 
views,  and  the  relations  of  master  and  servant  are  in  like 
manner  treated  of. 

The  military  position  of  the  country,  the  passes  through 
the  hills,  and  dangers,  are  all  alluded  to.  The  strategical 
positions  about  Yedo  are  noticed. 

Roads  come  under  regulation,  and  the  building  of  farm- 
houses. 

The  government  is  considered  as  bound  to  do  its  best  to 
provide  cheap  food  for  the  people.  Mourning  for  the  Em- 
peror, religious  sects,  foreigners,  prostitution,  suicide — all 
come  in  for  recognition  in  the  Bookay  Hiak  Kadjo. 


POSITION  AND   COURT   OF    THE   SHIOGOON. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  POSITION   AND   COURT   OF   THE   SHIOGOON 

IN  the  above  code  lyeyas  laid  down  the  order  of  rank  in 
which  the  officers  about  him  or  under  him  should  move. 
The  offices  were  probably  more  or  less  settled  and  in  exist- 
ence during  the  rule  of  Taikosama  and  of  Nobu  nanga,  and 
of  the  ministers  who  had  filled  a  somewhat  analogous  office 
during  many  generations  at  Kamakura. 

The  head  of  this  Yedo  system,  as  it  may  be  called,  is  the 
Shiogoon,  the  commander-in-chief  or  head  of  the  military 
department  of  the  empire,  under  which  is  included  the  police 
and  financial  departments. 

From  the  account  of  the  court  of  the  Mikado,  as  given  in 
a  previous  chapter,  it  is  to  be  gathered  that  the  Mikado  is  the 
chief  ruler  over  the  empire.  To  him  the  whole  empire  looks 
up  with  reverence ;  from  him  flows  the  stream  of  honors  con- 
ferred upon  subjects — all  equally  his  servants. 

After  the  royal  family  (the  Shinwo),  the  highest  subject 
is  the  Kwanbakku,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  five  highest 
families  of  Koongays.  After  these  follow  the  other  Koongay 
families  in  order,  down  to  the  lowest  and  poorest  enrolled  in 
the  peerage  of  the  empire. 

Beneath  all  this  court,  and  standing  upon  a  lower  plat- 
form, is  the  court  of  the  Shiogoon,  at  the  head  of  which  is  the 
Shiogoon,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and  around 
him  the  Kami  or  Daimio  class,  who  receive  and  hold  their 
territory  from  him  as  viceroy  for  the  Emperor.  The  words 
Shio  goon  were  derived  in  early  times  from  the  Chinese. 
Tsiang  kiun  is  the  title  of  the  general  commanding  one  of 


224  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

the  divisions  of  the  army  in  China. — In  ancient  times  in 
Japan  the  title  of  the  commander-in-chief  was  Mono  none. 

The  past  history  of  the  empire  has  shown  that  the  Em- 
peror himself  was  originally  the  leader  or  commandor-in- 
chief  of  his  own  armies,  but  that  in  course  of  time  the  office 
was  conferred  upon  one  of  the  younger  members  of  the  im- 
perial family.  It  was  afterward  transferred  to  the  mail  who 
in  a  lawless  revolutionary  period  showed  himself  capable  of 
seizing  and  holding  the  command  of  the  army.  Thus  Yori- 
tomo  held  it,  and  so  it  afterward  became  hereditary  in  the 
Ashikanga  family,  until  the  last  of  these  died  out  a  few 
years  before  lyeyas  achieved  the  object  of  his  ambition. 

In  any  consideration  of  the  government  of  Japan  and  HL 
relations,  it  is  necessary  to  have  clear  ideas  of  the  position  in 
which  the  Emperor  and  the  Shiogoon  stand  to  one  another. 
A  reference  to  the  history  of  the  country,  as  given  above, 
may  in  some  measure  explain  these;  but  it  may  not  be  with- 
out use  to  state  briefly  what  is  the  position  of  the  Shiogoon. 

The  Japanese  generally  are  imbued  with  the  idea  that 
their  land  is  a  real  Shin  koku,  a  Kami  no  kooni;  that  is,  the 
land  of  spiritual  beings  or  kingdom  of  spirits.  They  are  led 
to  think  that  the  Emperor  rules  over  all,  and  that  among 
other  subordinate  powers  he  rules  over  the  spirits  of  the 
country.  He  rules  over  men,  and  is  to  them  the  fountain 
of  honor ;  and  this  is  not  confined  to  honors  in  this  world,  but 
is  extended  to  the  other,  where  they  are  advanced  from  rank 
to  rank  by  the  orders  of  the  Emperor.  The  doctrine  of  the 
divine  right  is  carried  perhaps  further  than  it  ever  was  in 
England,  though,  after  all,  he  is  probably  only  regarded  as 
"that  sanctified  person  who,  under  God,  is  the  author  of  our 
true  happiness."  He  confers  rank  upon  the  officers  of  the 
empire,  and  from  him  Nobu  nanga,  Taikosama  and  lyeyas 
received  whatever  rank  each  held  in  the  empire.  By  the 
death  of  the  last  of  the  Ashikanga  Shiogoons  the  opportu- 
nity presented  itself  of  giving  the  title  to  one  who  had  earned 
it,  and  it  was  given  to  lyeyas. 

The  name  by  which  the  Shiogoon  of  the  present  day  is 


POSITION  AND    COURT  OF   THE  SHIOGOON.         225 

known  to  foreigners  is  that  of  Tycoon;  there  is,  however, 
no  such  title  as  Tycoon  in  the  language  of  Japan.  The  two 
words  Tai  kiun  are  Chinese,  signifying  "the  great  prince, 
sovereign,  or  exalted  ruler,"  implying  that  the  bearer  of  the 
title  is  the  great  sovereign  or  ruler  of  Japan.  Such  a  title 
conveys  an  idea  of  superiority  over  all  in  the  empire  which 
is  not  conveyed  by  any  of  the  native  titles  given  to  or  as- 
sumed by  the  Shiogoon.  The  title  is  of  foreign  growth,  and 
the  assumption  has  been  looked  upon  with  great  jealousy  by 
the  Mikado. 

By  the  old  Jesuit  writers  the  head  of  the  executive  was 
frequently  spoken  of  as  the  Emperor,  the  Kubosama,  and 
the  Xogune,  etc.  There  was,  indeed,  in  their  case,  some 
difficulty,  as  of  the  three  lyeyas  alone  was  Shiogoon,  and 
that  toward  the  end  of  his  life.  Kubosama,  as  has  been 
stated  elsewhere,  was  a  title  of  respect  given  by  the  Emperor 
to  the  first  Ashikanga.  It  was  given  to  him  after  he  had 
given  up  the  title  of  Shiogoon,  and  it  is  somewhat  inconsist- 
ent to  use  them  together. 

The  title  used  by  the  Mikado  to  the  Shiogoon  is  Tai  jiu, 
"the  large  tree";  and  this  is  probably  the  best  name  that 
could  be  used  by  foreigners  in  speaking  of  him,  or  in  ad- 
dressing him  officially.  That  used  by  the  Daimios  in  address- 
ing him  is  Rioo  ay,  or  "the  green  tent." 

The  son  and  heir  of  the  Tai  jiu,  whether  his  father  be 
alive  or  not,  till  he  is  fifteen  years  of  age,  goes  by  the  name 
of  Takke  cheoo,  two  Chinese  words  meaning  a  bamboo  shoot 
of  a  thousand  years.  He  generally  assumes  the  toga  virilis 
(the  ceremony  known  as  Gembuku)  when  he  is  about  fifteen; 
but  if  he  is  called  to  the  succession  as  a  child,  this  may  take 
place  at  an  earlier  period,  or  about  eight  or  ten,  when  he  has 
his  head  shaved  as  a  man  and  takes  his  man-name,  by  which 
he  is  thenceforth  known. 

There  is  a  civil  title  which  the  present  dynasty  has  been 
proud  to  assume  as  patrons  of  learning;  namely,  the  head 
or  rector  of  the  two  principal  colleges  of  the  empire,  June 
wa  and  Shoongaku  drio  in  no  bettowo,  implying  that  he  is 


226  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

the  principal  patron  or  rector  of  the  two  colleges  of  June  wa 
and  Shoongaku.  This  title  is  assumed  as  his  being  the ' '  Gen  ji 
no  choja";  i.e.,  the  head  of  the  Gen  or  Minnamoto  family. 
He  may  be  spoken  of  as  Minnamoto  no  choja — as  such  he 
considers  himself  as  the  first  of  all  the  military  families  of 
the  empire.  These  titles  he  assumes,  and  they  may  be  called 
family  and  literary  honors.  So  soon  as  he  has  passed  the 
ceremony  of  Gembuku,  the  Emperor  confers  rank  and  title 
upon  him ;  these  are  civil  and  military,  and  also  of  rank  or 
position.  The  lowest  civil  rank  given  to  him  is  probably 
Dai  nagoon,  from  which  he  is  raised  to  Naidaijin,  Oodaijin, 
and  Sadaijin,  and  may  be  raised  to  the  highest,  Daijodaijin ; 
but  this  is  generally  reserved  for  the  Kwanbakku.  xhe  mili- 
tary rank  given  him  is  Shiogoon,  to  which  the  prefix  Dai, 
"great,"  may  or  may  not  be  added.  The  Dai  Shiogoon  is 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and,  being  to  a  certain 
extent  looked  upon  as  hereditary,  is  only  an  honorary  title. 
To  this  title  is  sometimes  added  the  two  words  Se  i  (Ching 
i  of  the  Chinese),  the  chastizer  or  tranquilizer  of  the  barba- 
rians or  of  foreigners;  i.e.,  outside  people  at  a  distance  from 
court.  This  title  was  originally  given  with  reference  to  the 
conquest  of  the  Ai  nos  in  the  north  of  Japan  and  Yezo ;  but 
it  has  lately  been  applied  to  foreigners  by  the  Mikado  in  his 
dispatches,  as  when  he  says,  "I  have  given  you  the  title  of 
Se  i ;  why  do  you  not  fulfill  the  expectations  which  I  had 
of  you?"  Se  i  fhoo,  the  office  of  the  pacificer  of  barbarians, 
is  one  of  the  names  applied  to  the  castle  of  Yedo. 

Over  and  above  these  the  Mikado  denotes  his  place  in  the 
ranks  of  the  nobility,  as  that  he  is  of  the  second  grade,  first 
or  second  class. 

The  titles  of  lyeyas  were  Jin  itchi-i,  first  of  the  second 
grade. — Oodaijin,  the  great  minister  of  the  right. — Se  i  dai 
Shiogoon,  tranquilizer  of  foreigners  and  great  commander- 
in-chief. — June  wa,  Shoongaku  drio  in  no  bettowo,  principal 
of  the  two  colleges  of  June  wa  and  Shoongaku.  — Genji  no 
choja,  the  head  of  the  Gen  clan. — Minnamoto  no  lyeyas. 

The  name  of  Daifusama,  by  which  the  Jesuits  spoke  of 


POSITION  AND    COURT  OF   THE   SHIOGOON.         227 

lyeyas,  is  a  corruption  of  Naidaijin,  as  Nai  foo  sama,  or, 
according  to  the  subsequent  use  of  sama,  lord  of  the  inner 
office. 

The  Shiogoon  adopts  a  crest  or  coat-of-arms  differing 
from  that  in  use  by  the  Mikado.  It  is  called  awui,  or  a 
representation  of  three  leaves  of  a  species  of  mallow,  "awui," 
joined  at  the  points  and  inclosed  in  a  circle.  This  is  used  in 
all  official  matters  issuing  from  the  office.  No  one  is  allowed 
to  use  it  but  those  who  are  relatives  of  the  Shiogoon,  or  upon 
business  emanating  from  the  office. 

lyeyas  took  up  his  residence  at  Yedo,  in  the  castle  which 
had  been  built  at  a  former  period  by  Owota  do  kwang,  and 
which  was  formerly  known  by  the  name  Tchi  oda,  and  is  at 
times  still  so  called.  Large  sums  of  money  were  expended 
upon  this  residence.  It  was  increased  greatly  in  size.  A 
deep  trench  or  moat  was  dug  round  it,  cutting  it  off  from 
communication,  except  by  the  gates,  with  the  town.  This 
trench  or  moat  was  and  is  kept  filled  by  a  canal  drawn  off 
from  the  Rokungo  kawa,  near  the  village  of  Omaro,  about 
nine  miles  from  Yedo.  At  Miako  the  castle  of  Nijio  Maro 
is  his  residence. 

At  Osaka,  the  large  castle,  formerly  the  temple  of  Hoon- 
ganji,  and  the  residence  of  Buddhist  priesthood,  afterward 
converted  into  a  castle  or  fort  by  Taikosama,  is  in  possession 
of  the  Shiogoon. 

At  Surunga,  the  castle  formerly  belonging  to  Imagawa 
is  kept  up  at  his  expense. 

In  Kahi,  the  castle  of  Kofu,  formerly  the  property  of  Ta- 
keda,  is  another  residence,  while  in  different  provinces  there 
are  minor  seats  or  residences  occupied  by  retainers  and  officers. 

lyeyas  was  buried  at  Nikko  san,  where  a  magnificent  tem- 
ple was  reared  in  his  honor,  to  which  repair  at  certain  times 
his  descendants  and  the  officers  of  the  dynasty  to  pay  rever- 
ence to  his  names,  to  commemorate  his  greatness,  or  in  the 
way  of  official  duty. 


228  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 


CHAPTER    IX 

/ 

THE   DAIMIOS 

IN  the  above  laws  lyeyas  speaks  of  Daimios  and  Shomios, 
among  whom  the  territories  at  his  disposal  were  to  be  divided. 
The  division  was  made  in  the  ratio  of  twenty  millions  to  the 
Daimios  to  eight  millions  which  he  reserved  to  himself. 
"Daimio"  is  compounded  of  two  Chinese  words,  signify- 
ing "great  name";  "Shomio"  is  "little  name."  The  latter 
title  has  fallen  into  disuse,  and  is  generally  replaced  by 
Hattamoto,  meaning  "the  root  or  foundation  of  the  flag." 
The  Daimio  class  may  be  considered  to  include  every  officer 
who  holds  directly  of  the  Shiogoon,  and  has  an  official  in- 
come from  land  held  of  the  Shiogoon  of  the  annual  value  of 
10,000  koku  of  rice  and  upward.  The  real  value  of  a  koku 
is  difficult  to  ascertain,  as  it  varies  much  at  different  times, 
whether  it  be  looked  upon  as  a  measure  of  rice  or  as  a  coin 
— a  kobang,  as  it  is  commonly  reckoned.  Of  4  kobangs  as- 
sayed by  the  United  States  mint  the  variation  was  from  3 
dollars  57  cents  to  5  dollars  95  cents,  or  from  15s.  to  24s. 
10,000  koku  are  considered  equal  to  25,000  piculs  of  rice,  or 
nearly  4,000,000  pounds.  There  are  many  men  whose  in- 
comes are  upward  of  10,000  koku,  but  who  do  not  hold  their 
land  of  the  Shiogoon,  but  of  some  Daimio.  Such  are  not 
Daimios,  but  servants  or  retainers  of  a  Diamio,  known  some- 
times as  "By  shing." 

The  offices  and  officers  of  the  court  of  the  Shiogoon  have 
continued,  with  but  little  change,  from  the  time  of  lyeyas 
down  to  the  opening  of  the  country  in  1858.  The  order 
in  which  these  officers  took  rank  was  settled  by  lyeyas;  but 


THE  DAIMIOS.  229 

the  offices  seem  to  have  been  more  or  less  in  use  during  the 
time  of  his  predecessor  Taikosama,  and  had  probably  ex- 
isted for  many  years.  lyeyas  in  his  laws  did  not  for  a 
moment  contemplate  any  interference  with  the  court  of  the 
Emperor.  That  was  above  him.  The  lowest  Koongay  of 
that  court  was  above  him  until  the  Emperor  should  have 
conferred  upon  himself  some  title  of  rank. 

The  nobility  of  the  Emperor's  court  are  all  Koongay. 
Their  names  are  enrolled  in  the  Great  Book  of  the  Empire 
as  enjoying  patents  of  nobility,  while  the  names  of  Daimios 
as  such  are  not  so  enrolled.  As  Daimios  they  are  not  nobles 
of  the  empire.  Daimios  (literally  Ta  meng),  or  feudal  lords 
(Chu  haou),  are,  in  contradistinction  to  Koongay,  called  Jee 
ngay  (Ti  hia).  The  former  means  "noble  families,"  the 
latter  meaning  low,  on  a  level  with  the  earth.  The  Shiogoon 
himself  is  Jee  ngay  until  he  has  been  ennobled  by  the  Em- 
peror. Till  recently,  Daimios,  except  the  few  whose  pres- 
ence was  required  upon  duty,  were  not  permitted  to  visit 
Miako.  Even  when  they  received  rank  and  title  from  the 
Emperor,  a  relative  was  sent  to  pay  homage. 

lyeyas,  as  head  of  the  executive,  dealt  with  these  Daimios 
and  Hattamoto,  or  lesser  barons,  only.  Among  them  there 
are  recognized  four  classes ;  viz. ,  Koku  shiu,  Ka  mong,  To 
sama,  and  Fudai.  The  highest  class — Koku  shiu  (Kwoh 
chu) — "province  lords,"  were  those  whose  ancestors  had  been 
in  possession  of  large  territories,  and  who  in  several  cases 
opposed  lyeyas  in  arms,  yet  whom  he  thought  it  safer  to 
conciliate  than  to  irritate,  looking  upon  them  as  more  on 
an  equality  with  himself  than  the  others.  About  the  time  of 
lyeyas  there  were  seventeen  of  these  province  lords,  to  which 
number  four  have  since  been  added.  The  second  class — Ka 
mong  (Kia  mun),  family  doors  or  gates — consisted  of  rela- 
tives of  his  family  who  had  assisted  him  in  his  rise  to  power, 
and  upon  whom  he  conferred  territory.  If  the  "San  kay," 
or  three  families  of  his  own  line,  be  included,  there  were  ten 
Ka  mong.  The  third  class — To  sama  (Wai  yang) — were 
those  who,  being  no  relatives  or  connections,  were  possessed 


230  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

of  considerable  landed  property,  and  who  sided  with  lyeyas 
during  his  struggle  for  power.  The  fourth — the  Fudai  (P'u 
tai) — includes  the  officers,  retainers,  captains  of  his  army,  or 
those  who  in  civil  capacities,  but  subordinate,  assisted  him. 
Of  this  Daimio  class  there  are  about  200.  Fudai  are  the 
only  Daimios  who  are  eligible  for  office,  or  who  aie  allowed 
to  take  a  part  in  official  business.  In  rare  cases  To  sama 
have  given  up  their  rank  and  privileges  in  order  to  partici-. 
pate  and  take  an  active  part  in  official  politics. 

The  being  a  Daimio  or  Kooni  kami  implies  that  the  officer 
belongs  to  one  of  these  four  classes,  and  has  an  annual  in- 
come from  land,  as  has  been  said,  of  10,000  koku  of  rice. 

The  standing  of  Daimios  as  a  distinct  nobility  is  not  rec- 
ognized at  Miako,  and  it  is  therefore  an  object  of  ambition 
to  them  to  obtain  imperial  honors  at  the  hand  of  the  Em- 
peror, such  honors  being  looked  upon  as  much  higher  than 
the  names  by  which  they  are  known  at  the  court  of  the 
Shiogoon,  and  which  are  conferred  by  him.  These  latter 
are  invariably  the  name  of  a  province,  of  which  each  is 
styled  "kami."  There  are  three  provinces  from  which  titles 
as  kami  are  never  taken  by  Daimios :  Kadsusa,  Fitatsi,  and 
Kowotsuki;  these  provinces  as  a  title  being  reserved  for  the 
relatives  of  the  Emperor.  This  gives  rise,  as  mentioned  be- 
fore, to  the  distinction  between  titles  as  Kooni  kami  and 
those  known  as  Kio  kwang.  These  latter  titles  are  much 
coveted,  and  a  great  deal  of  money  is  expended  and  interest 
employed  in  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  title  from  the  Emperor. 
If  an  officer  has  both  descriptions  of  titles,  the  Kio  kwang 
always  takes  precedence,  as  in  the  case  of  Satsuma :  he  is  a 
Koku  shiu  and  a  Kooni  kami,  as  such  he  has  the  title  of 
Ohosumi,  or  Satsuma  no  kami ;  but  he  is  rarely  so  spoken 
of.  Holding  the  imperial  title  of  Shuri  no  dai  bu,  he  is 
known  by  this  added  to  his  family  name,  Shimadzu,  Shuri 
no  dai  bu — i.e.,  Shimadzu,  head  of  the  ecclesiastical  carpen- 
ters' office.  In  addition  to  these  designations  from  provinces 
by  which  Daimios  are  generally  known,  the  Shiogoon  has 
thought  to  confer  higher  honor  upon  some,  and  to  attach 


THE  DAIMIOS.  231 

them  more  to  his  family  and  its  interests,  by  giving  them 
permission  to  use  his  family  name.  The  name  of  the  parent 
stock  is  Tokungawa,  but  the  branch  to  which  lyeyas  be- 
longed was  known  as  Matzdaira  (a  village  in  Mikawa). 
When  the  ruling  officer  is  powerful,  these  lords  are  proud 
to  use  this  name ;  when  he  is  insignificant,  they  avoid  it. 
Thus  the  lord  of  the  western  provinces  of  Nippon  uses  at 
times  the  family  name  of  Mowori,  at  other  times  he  is  Matz- 
daira, Daizen  no  dai  bu. 

The  higher  class  of  the  lords  (the  Koku  shiu),  who  gen- 
erally rule  over  one  or  more  provinces,  are  frequently  called 
by  the  name  of  one  of  the  provinces  as  spoken  according  to 
the  Chinese  pronunciation  of  the  character.  Thus  Mowori 
is  ruler  over  the  province  of  Nagato;  i.e.,  long  gate  or  en- 
trance— in  Chinese,  Chang  mun,  Japanized  into  Cho  mong. 
The  latter  word  is  dropped,  and  instead  of  it  "shiu,"  or  prov- 
ince, is  added — whence  Cho  shiu,  the  name  by  which  he  is 
frequently  spoken  of.  Satsuma  is  thus  Sas  shiu,  Owarri, 
Bishiu,  etc. 

One  difficulty  in  completely  understanding  the  use  of  the 
various  titles  in  Japan  arises  from  a  confusion  in  the  appli- 
cation of  the  word  "kami."  As  a  title,  this  word  is  con- 
ferred by  the  Emperor  and  the  Shiogoon.  The  word,  when 
conferred  by  the  Shiogoon,  is  the  Chinese  character  "shau," 
with  the  meaning  of  keeper,  or  to  take  charge  of.  Used  in 
this  way,  the  name  of  a  province  is  invariably  prefixed,  as 
Yamato  no  kami.  And  as  the  names  of  the  provinces  are 
known  as  our  counties  are  with  us,  the  title  is  at  once  un- 
derstood by  a  native.  But  this  is  quite  a  different  word  from 
that  found  in  the  title  of  Ee  Kamong  no  kami.  This  is  an 
imperial  title.  The  Chinese  character  representing  this  word 
is  that  of  "tau,"  or  head,  and  implies  that  he  is  the  head  of 
a  department ;  viz. ,  that  which  takes  charge  of  the  verandas 
and  outside  pathways  about  the  palace.  Again,  the  word 
occurs  in  military  titles,  as  Sa  yay  mong  no  kami.  In  such 
a  title  the  Chinese  character  "tuh,"  meaning  to  keep,  to 
lead,  or  a  general,  is  employed,  implying  that  he  is  com- 


232  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

mander  of  the  guards  of  the  left  gate.  In  a  fourth  instance 
the  Chinese  character  is  "ching" — correct,  to  govern,  or  to 
see  that  things  are  correct;  and  the  word  is  found  in  such 
titles  as  Gone  me  no  kami,  Gone  me  being  the  department 
of  the  female  officers  about  the  palace.  It  is  therefore  evi- 
dent that  the  office  must  be  known  before  the  title  can  be 
translated,  and  that  the  word  prince  will  not  give  a  correct 
translation  of  "kami"  when  connected  with  suoh  an  office 
as  Gengba,  which  is  the  office  for  foreign  affairs. 

The  term  "tono"  is  still  frequently  applied  to  Daimios 
by  the  common  people,  and  is  often  conjoined  with  "sama," 
as  Tonosama.  It  is  the  Chinese  word  "tien,"  a  palace  or 
hall,  and  was  originally  conferred  upon  the  crown-prince  of 
China,  and  thence  transferred  to  the  son  of  the  Kwaubakku. 
The  Portuguese  writers  frequently  use  "dono."  "Sama"  is 
the  Chinese  "yang,"  and  was  at  first  conferred  upon  Ashi- 
kanga  yoshi  haru  when  the  Emperor  for  the  first  time  gave 
him  the  title  of  Kubosama.  From  this  it  passed  as  a  title 
of  respect  to  other  high  officers,  but  has  now  become  as  com- 
mon as  esquire  in  England.  "Tono"  in  the  same  way  is 
now  used  by  Hattamoto.  "Yakatta"  (Ch.,  kwan),  a  word 
sometimes  used  by  the  Jesuits  for  Daimios,  is  properly  re- 
stricted to  the  castle  of  a  Daimio,  and  is  used  only  for  the 
more  or  less  fortified  residences  of  the  more  powerful  of  the 
class. 

The  five  hereditary  orders  of  peerage  used  in  China  are 
not  known  in  Japan  except  by  name  (Ko,  Ko,  Haku,  Shi, 
and  Dan).  Of  the  Daimio  class  the  Shiogoon  is  the  head. 

Of  the  present  dynasty,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  lyeyas 
was  the  first.  He  derived  his  descent,  in  his  officially  pub- 
lished pedigree,  from  the  Emperor  Say  wa,  one  of  whose 
descendants  was  lyo  no  kami,  Yori  yoshi.  His  son  was 
Hatchimang  Taro,  Mootz  no  kami,  Yoshi  lyay.  He  was 
known  in  history  as  a  great  warrior,  fighting  in  the  province 
of  Mootz  for  twelve  years.  His  third  son  was  Siki  bu  no 
Ta  yu,  Yoshi  kooni,  the  founder  of  the  families  of  Nitta  and 
Ashikanga.  His  son  was  Nitta,  Gee  no  ske,  Yisho  shigay, 


THE   DAIMIOS.  233 

commonly  called  Dai  ko  een  (great  light).  His  fourth  son 
was  Yoshi  Suyay,  called  Tokungawa  shiro  (i.e.,  fourth  son), 
from  whom  was  descended  Minnamoto  no  Hirotada,  the 
father  of  lyeyas,  who  was  the  eldest  son.  lyeyas  claimed  to 
be  descended  from  the  Nitta  family.  His  grandfather  was 
adopted  by  Matzdaira  Tarozayaymon,  then  a  farmer  in 
Mikawa,  at  the  village  Matzdira. 

I.  lyeyas  had  twelve  children:  1.  A  daughter,  married 
Okudaira  Mimasaka  no  kami.     2.  A  son,  Nobu  yas.     His 
father  suspected  him  of  intriguing  against  him  and  was  said 
to  have  killed  him  in  Mikawa.     In  one  of  Mr.  Cocks's  letters 
he  says,  "It  is  said  that  the  eldest  son  was  disinherited  on 
account  of  his  having  lost  his  nose  by  disease."     3.  Etsizen 
chiu  nangoong,  Hideyas.     As  a  boy  he  was  given  to  Taiko- 
sama,  and  was  adopted  by  him.     After  Taiko  had  a  son,  he 
gave  Hideyas  in  marriage  to  the  heiress  of  the  family  of 
Yuki,  in  Kadsusa,  an  old  family ;  and  after  all  the  territory 
was  overrun  and  despoiled,  his  father  gave  to  him  the  prov- 
ince of   Etsizen.     4.    Hidetada  ko   married  a  daughter  of 
Taiko,  and  succeeded  his  father  as  Shiogoon.     5.  Tada  yoshi 
ko,  commonly  called  Matzdaira  Satsuma  no  kami.     He  got 
Kioss,  in  Owarri,  a  place  formerly  belonging  to  Nobu  nanga. 
6.  Nobu  noshi.     7.  A  daughter,  married  to  Hojo  Sagami  no 
kami.     8.  A  daughter,  married  first  to  Gamo  Hida  no  kami 
and  secondly  to  Assano  Tajima  no  kami.    9.  Etsigo,  Kadsusa 
no  ske  Tadateru.     10.  Owarri,  Hioyay  no  kami,  Yoshi  nawo, 
the  founder  of  the  line  of  Owarri — one  of  the  "three  fami- 
lies."    11.  Kii,  Dainagoon,  Hitatsi  no  ske,  Yori  yoshi,  was 
first  of  the  Kii  or  Kiisiu  line — one  of  the  "three  families." 
12.  Mito,  Chiunagoon,  Sayaymong  no  kami,  Yori  fhoossa, 
the  first  of  the  Mito  line — one  of  the  "three  families." 

II.  Hidetada,  appointed  Shiogoon  in  1605,  married  the 
daughter  of  Taikosama.    He  had  nine  children :  1.  A  daugh- 
ter, married  Hideyori,  the  son  of  Taikosama.    2.  A  daughter, 
married  Komatzu.     3.  A  daughter,  married  the  son  of  Etsi- 
zen, the  third  son  of  lyeyas.     4.  A  daughter,  married  Kio- 
goku.     5.  A  son,  died  in  infancy.     6.  lyaymitz  ko,  the  third 


234  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Sbiogoon.  7.  Tada  naga.  He  intrigued  to  kill  his  brother 
lyaymitz,  and,  being  detected,  was  confined  to  his  room  for 
life.  8.  A  daughter,  who  married  the  Emperor  Go  midzuno. 
9.  Hoshima,  Higo  no  kami,  Massa  yuki,  founder  of  the  fam- 
ily now  known  as  "Aidzu." 

II.  lyaymitz  ko,  appointed  Shiogoon  in  1623.  He  had 
five  children,  of  whom:  1.  A  daughter,  married  Owarri. 
2.  lyaytsuna  ko,  the  fourth  Shiogoon  of  the  dynasty.  3. 
Kofu,  Sama  no  Kami,  Szna  Shigay, 

IV.  lyaytsuna  ko,  appointed  Shiogoon  in  1650.     He  was 
said  to  have  been  killed  by  his  wife,  who  was  the  daughter 
of  a  vegetable  seller,  and  had  been  employed  as  a  servant 
about  the  palace.     Her  father  was  given  the  wealth  and 
rank  of  a  Daimio,  as  Matzdaira  Hoki  no  kami.     The  family 
crest  was  (in  reference  to  the  father's  occupation),  and  is 
to  this   day,   two  Japanese   turnips  crossed.      He   left  no 
family. 

V.  Tsna  yoshi  ko,  appointed  1680,  was  son  of  Kofu  Sama 
no  Kami.     He  had  three  children  of  whom :  The  second,  a 
daughter,  married  Kii,  Tsunatoshi.     3.  lyay  nobu  ko,  suc- 
ceeded as  Shiogoon. 

VI.  lyay  nobu,  appointed  in  1710.     He  had  three  chil- 
dren :  1st  and  3d  were  sons,  who  died  young.     The  young- 
est of  the  three  was  lyay  tsoongo  ko,  who  was  the  seventh 
Shiogoon. 

VII.  lyay  tsoongo,  1713.     He  had  no  children,  and  was 
succeeded   by  a  son  of  Kii  Tsna  toshi,   who  married  the 
daughter  of  the  fifth  Shiogoon. 

VIII.  Yoshi  mone,  1716.     During  ten  years  of  his  youth 
a  regent  held  the  reins.     He  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
able  of  the  successors  of  lyeyas.     Is  called,  from  his  family, 
Kiishiu  Kubosama.     He  abdicated  in  1745,  and  died  in  1751. 
He  had  four  children,  of  whom:    1.  lyay  shigay  was  the 
ninth  Shiogoon.     2.  Moone  taka  was  the  founder  of  the  Go 
san  kio  family  of  Ta  yass.     4.  Moone  kori  kio.     He  is  the 
first  of  the  Go  san  kio  family  of  Stots  bashi. 

IX.  lyay  shigay  ko,  1745.     He  had  two  sons;  1.  lyay 


THE  DAIMIOS.  235 

haru  ko,  the  tenth  Shiogoon.     2.  Shigay  yoshi  kio.     He  is 
the  first  of  the  Go  san  kio  family  of  Saymidzu. 

X.  lyay  haru  ko,  1762.     He  had  six  children,  of  whom: 
A  daughter,  died  young.    Another  daughter  married  Owarri. 
lyay  motu  ko,  who  was  called  "half  Shiogoon."     It  is  gen- 
erally believed  that  he  was  poisoned  by  his  brother  lyay 
nari.     lyay  nari  ko,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Satsuma. 
And  the  sixth,  a  daughter,  married  Kii. 

XI.  lyay  nari  ko,  1787.     He  had  fifty-one  children ;  but 
as  he  was  subject  to  epileptic  fits,  and  weakly  in  mind  and 
body,  he  is  not  generally  believed  to  have  been  the  father  of 
many  of  them.     Of  his  children :  The  2d,  a  daughter,  mar- 
ried Owarri.     The  3d  was  lyay  yoshi  ko,  the  twelfth  Shio- 
goon of  his  line.     The  llth,  a  daughter,  married  Mito.     The 
13th,  a  son,  became  Kii,  Dainagoong.     His  son,  lyay  muschi 
ko,  was  Shiogoon  in  1858  to  1866.     The  17th,  Asahime,  mar- 
ried Maizdaira,  Etsizen  no  kami.     The  26th,  Ta  yass,  after- 
ward became  Daimio  of  Owarri.     The  28th,   a  daughter, 
married  to  Matzdaira,  Hizen  no  kami   (Nabeshima).     The 
32d,  a  daughter,  married  to  Kanga.     The  34th,  a  son,  Mi- 
kawa  no  kami,  known  afterward   as   Kakudo   sama.     He 
was   adopted  by  Matzdaira  Etsigo  no  kami,  and  was  con- 
sidered a  very  able  and   judicious   man,   much   respected. 
A  party  wished,    in   1858,    to  make    him    Shiogoon,    but 
he  declined.     He  republished,    for  Japanese  use,  Kanghi's 
"Dictionary  of  the  Chinese  Language."    The  39th,  a  daugh- 
ter, married  to  Matzdaira,  Aki  no  kami.     The  41st,  a  daugh- 
ter, married  Sakai,  Oota  no  kami.     The  42d,  a  daughter, 
married  Tokungawa,  Mimboo  kio.     The  43d,  a  son,  adopted 
by  Owarri.     The  45th,  a  son  adopted  by  Kiishiu,  and  after- 
ward became  Kii,  Dainagoong.     The  46th,  a  son,  adopted 
by  Etsizen  no  kami.     The  47th,  a  son,  adopted  by  Awa  no 
kami.     The  49th,  Okura  no  tayu,  adopted  by  Yamato  no 
kami.     The   50th,  Hiogo  no   tayu,  adopted  by  Sahio   yay 
no  kami.     The  other  thirty-four  children  died  in  infancy 
or  childhood. 

XII.  lyay  yoshi  ko,  1837.     He  had  twenty-five  children, 


236  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

of  whom :  The  first  six  died  in  infancy.  The  7th,  lyay  sada 
ko,  succeeded  him.  The  9th,  Tokungawa,  Mimboo  kio,  was 
adopted  by  Stots  bashi,  one  of  the  Go  san  kio,  and  he  him- 
self afterward  adopted  a  son  of  Mito,  which  eon  was,  until 
his  abdication  in  1867,  the  last  Shiogoon  of  the  dynasty. 
The  21st,  a  daughter,  married  Arima,  Naka  tskasa  no  tayu. 
The  25th  married  Mito.  The  rest  all  died  in  infancy. 

XIII.  lyay  sada  ko,  appointed  in  1853.    He  had  no  sons. 

XIV.  lyay  mutchi  ko,  1858,  formerly  Ham  taka,  son  of 
Kii,  thirteenth  child  of  the  eleventh  Shiogoon,  succeeded  to 
the  office.     The  death  of  lyay  sada  without  an  heir  was  the 
origin  of  much  intrigue  and  trouble  in  the  empire  during 
the  year  1858.     There  were  two  claimants  to  the  succession; 
the  one  was  the  son  of  Mito,  who  had  been  adopted  by  To- 
kungawa, Mimboo  kio,  the  ninth  son  of  the  twelfth  Shio- 
goon ;  the  other  was  the  eldest  surviving  son  of  the  eleventh 
Shiogoon,  and  who  had   been  adopted  by  Kiishiu.     It  be- 
came, therefore,  a  struggle  between  the  two  houses  of  Mito 
and  Kiishiu,  and  the  regent  sided  with  the  latter.     It  was  a 
question  between  a  son  adopted  out  of  the  line  and  a  youth 
who  had  been  adopted  into  the  line.     lyay  mutchi  died  in 
1867,  and  was  succeeded  by  Stots  bashi  as  Yoshi  hissa,  who 
in  his  turn  abdicated  in  1868,  and  so  the  dynasty  of  Tokun- 
gawa terminated. 

It  has  been  stated  above  that  the  offices  about  the  court 
of  Yedo  were  all  settled  by  lyeyas.  In  his  testamentary 
rules  he  laid  down  the  rank  and  order  in  which  they  were 
to  stand  in  the  court.  These  may  be  here  more  particularly 
described. 

In  the  family  of  the  Shiogoon,  as  given  above,  mention  is 
made  of  the  San  kay  and  of  the  San  kio.  The  former  name 
means  the  three  families,  the  latter  the  three  princes  of  the 
blood. 

The  "three  families"  referred  to  are  the  descendants  of 
the  three  youngest  sons  of  lyeyas — to  the  one  of  whom  was 
given  the  lordship  of  Owarri,  to  the  other  that  of  Kii,  and  to 
the  third  that  of  Mito,  a  town  and  district  in  the  province  of 


THE    DAIMIOS.  237 

Hitatsi.  The  heirs  of  these  nobles  stand  at  the  top  of  the  list 
of  Daimios,  and  from  out  of  these  families  is  chosen,  in  case 
of  vacancy,  a  successor  to  fill  the  seat  of  Shiogoon. 

The  San  kio  (three  princes  of  the  blood)  were  sons  of  the 
eighth  and  ninth  Shiogoons,  and  having  in  view  the  possible 
extinction  of  the  direct  line  of  lyeyas  at  the  time,  these 
young  men  and  their  families  seem  to  have  been  set  apart, 
in  imitation  of  the  Sin  wo,  or  imperial  families  at  Miako. 
They  were  assigned  residences  within  the  palace  enceinte  at 
Yedo,  but  take  no  regular  part  in  public  business.  They  are 
paid  a  yearly  income  by  the  Shiogoon,  each  having  a  sepa- 
rate little  court.  The  three  princes  are  respectively  called 
Ta  yass,  Stots  bashi,  and  Say  midzu.  The  last,  the  house 
of  Say  midzu,  is,  so  to  speak,  at  present  extinct,  and  the 
residence  unoccupied,  and  though  it  is  in  the  power  of  the 
Shiogoon  to  reappoint  a  member  of  his  family,  it  is  not 
likely  soon  to  be  filled  up.  The  Go  San  kio  are  not  styled 
Daimios. 

The  Go  tai  ro,  or  Regent. — In  a  hereditary  jurisdiction, 
such  as  that  of  the  Shiogoon,  provision  must  be  made  for  the 
contingency  of  the  youth  or  incapacity  of  the  heir  upon  his 
succession.  Under  this  name,  which  means  the  great  or 
illustrious  elder,  a  regency — an  office  similar  to  that  of  the 
Sessio  at  Miako— is  provided.  It  is  an  office  which  is  only 
filled  when  necessity  calls  for  such  an  appointment;  and 
there  are  only  certain  men  eligible  for  the  office.  He  must 
be  a  Fudai  Daimio,  and,  if  possible,  one  of  the  four  known 
as  the  Si  Ten  wo.  These  are  Eeyee  or  Ee,  Sakakibarra, 
Sakkai,  and  Honda.  Of  these  the  first,  Ee  Kamong  no  kami, 
is  called  the  Do  dai,  or  foundation-stone  of  the  power  of  the 
dynasty,  the  ancestor  of  the  family,  Ee  nawo  massa,  having 
been  lieutenant-general  and  right-hand  man  to  lyeyas. 

So  long  as  things  go  smoothly,  and  the  wheels  of  govern- 
ment revolve,  such  rules  may  be  carried  out ;  but  when  any 
country  begins  to  ferment,  the  ablest  or  the  least  scrupulous 
man  comes  to  the  surface.  Previous  to  the  accession  of  the 
thirteenth  Shiogoon,  lyay  sada,  Ee  had  gradually  crept  into 


238  HISTORY    OF   JAPAX. 

a  position  of  power  (to  which  he  may  have  been  more  or  less 
entitled)  through  the  mental  infirmity  of  the  reigning  Shio- 
goon.  He  assumed  or  was  voted  into  the  office  of  regent. 
Intrigues  were  rife  in  Yedo  and  Miako,  and  in  consequence 
of  his  leaning  toward  foreigners,  or  for  other  reasons,  he 
was  assassinated. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  custom  that  the  Fudai  and 
Kammong  Daimios  settled  who  was  to  be  regent  without 
any  reference  to  the  Emperor;  but  since  the  opening  up  of 
the  country  the  Emperor  has  risen  in  importance,  and  at 
present  he  or  his  officers  settle  who  is  to  be  the  highest 
officer  when  necessary.  A  common  or  vulgar  name  for  the 
Gotairo  is  Koken,  or  Oshiru  me — i.e.,  looker  back  or  behind. 
They  have  seldom  held  office  long,  and  have  too  often  come 
to  an  untimely  end. 

The  Go  ro  chiu,  or  Toshi  yori  (the  senior  central  officers, 
or  the  "Cabinet,"  as  they  may  be  called),  consists  generally 
of  four  or  five  Fudai  Daimios  appointed  to  the  office  by  the 
Shiogoon.  All  Fudai  aspire  to  the  office,  but  the  members 
are  in  quiet  times  chosen  from  the  thirteen  families  men- 
tioned in  the  laws  of  lyeyas  as  head  Fudai.  Among  the 
members  of  the  Cabinet  one  is  generally  looked  upon  as 
Prime  Minister;  but  they  all  take  duty  in  monthly  rotation. 
It  is  considered  a  great  honor  to  have  been  ten  years  in  office, 
and  the  Shiogoon  in  such  a  case  raises  the  territorial  income 
of  such  officer.  This  is  the  most  responsible  office,  and  too 
often  in  times  past  has  entailed  upon  its  possessors  the  mis- 
taken duty  of  retrieving  an  error  by  the  cowardly  retreat  of 
suicide.  They  are  responsible  for  the  whole  acts  of  govern- 
ment, which  are  supposed  either  to  have  originated  with 
them  or  to  have  been  carried  out  with  their  cognizance. 
The  Go  ro  chiu  meets  daily  at  10  A.M.  in  the  Go  yo  shta  be 
ya,  a  room  in  the  palace.  They  preside  in  the  Hio  jo  sho,  or 
deliberative  assembly  of  acting  officers,  when  the  Shiogoon 
is  not  present.  But  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  when  great 
international  questions  come  before  the  country,  as  the  open- 
ing up  of  trade  with  foreigners,  the  larger  Daimios  and  Koku 


THE   DAIM10S.  239 

shiu  should  have  a  voice,  and  should  take  a  share  in  changes 
of  such  magnitude.  Consequently  of  late  the  Go  ro  chiu  has 
been  rather  set  aside  as  things  move  toward  Miako,  where 
before  long  the  power  and  responsibility  will  fall  to  the  cor- 
responding office  at  the  imperial  court. 

The  Japanese  have  a  saying,  that  a  wealthy  man  should 
have  little  power  in  the  state,  but  that  comparatively  poor 
men  should  have  the  power.  This  seems  to  be  one  of  their 
principles  of  government. 

Soba  yo  min  is  an  office  which  is  only  occasionally  filled, 
as  when  the  Shiogoon  is  young.  He  seems  to  be  an  officer 
of  communication  between  the  Go  ro  chiu  and  the  other  de- 
partments. This  is  the  highest  office  filled  by  Hattamoto. 

"Waka  toshi  yori — literally,  the  younger  elders  or  sena- 
tors. They  are  generally  five  in  number,  a  second  Cabinet, 
or  Under-Secretaries  of  State.  They  are  Fudai  Daimios,  or 
Hattamato.  They  are  frequently  promoted  to  vacancies  in 
the  Go  ro  chiu. 

Sosha  are  generally  Fudai,  in  number  about  thirty. 
Their  duty  seems  to  be  attending  to  officers  arriving  at 
the  palace.  It  is  an  office  of  little  power  and  considerable 
expense.  They  rise  in  ordinary  times  to  be  Jee  sha,  temple 
lords,  and  other  offices  of  authority. 

The  Kokay,  or  Kowokay,  can  hardly  be  called  officers  of 
state.  The  name  means  high  families  (Ch.,  Kau  kia),  and 
includes  the  male  representative  lines  of  some  of  the  families 
of  distinction  in  ancient  times,  such  as  Nobu  nanga,  Ashi- 
kango,  Yoritomo,  Arima,  etc.  It  seems  a  matter  of  policy 
to  keep  them  under  the  eye  of  the  court,  giving  each  an 
allowance  from  the  state  of  territory  from  500  to  1,000  koku 
per  annum.  They  are  looked  upon  as  men  of  high  rank  but 
little  power,  being  neither  Daimios  nor  Koongays,  but  be- 
tween the  two.  They  are  occasionally  employed  to  act  as 
proxies  for  the  Shiogoon  in  state  visits  to  the  temples  of 
Nikko  or  Isse,  and  have  attempted  of  late  to  assert  their 
right  to  act  as  embassadors  to  foreign  countries.  There  are 
about  eighteen  Kowokay  at  present. 


240  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

O  Tsu  may  shiu  are  Fudai  Daimios  who  act  as  guards  to 
the  apartments  of  the  Shiogoon.  From  the  room  in  which 
they  meet  in  the  palace  they  are  spoken  of  as  Gan  no  ma 
Daimios. — The  room  being  painted  with  representations  of 
wild  geese. 

Jee  sha  (Ch.,  Sz  shie)  boonio,  temple  governors.  These 
are  described  by  Kaempfer  as  "imperial  commissioners,  in- 
spectors, protectors  and  judges  of  all  the  temples  and  the 
monks  belonging  thereunto.  This  employment  is,  after  the 
Emperor's  Council  of  State  (i.e.,  the  Go  ro  chiu),  one  of 
the  best  in  the  empire,  and  the  persons  invested  with  it  are 
very  much  considered  at  court.  They  hold  their  court  at 
Yedo.  All  civil  affairs  relating  to  the  clergy — such  as  law- 
suits, disputes  arising  about  the  limits  or  revenues  of  their 
lands,  prosecutions  for  wrongs  or  damages  received,  and 
the  like — are  brought  daily  in  great  number  to  be  decided 
in  this  court.  Again,  all  criminal  cases — as  rebellion,  dis- 
regard of  the  imperial  proclamations  and  commands,  and 
in  general  all  capital  crimes  committed  by  the  ecclesiastics 
— are  tried  before  them,  and,  in  case  of  conviction,  punished 
with  death,  though  these  criminals  are  much  more  indulged 
than  other  people  and  cannot  be  executed  without  the  consent 
of  and  a  warrant  signed  by  the  general  at  Miako.  Another 
branch  of  the  business  of  these  Dsisia  Bugjo  is  to  take  care 
of  the  maintenance  of  the  clergy,  to  keep  the  temples  in  re- 
pair, and  otherwise,  in  all  cases  where  the  secular  power 
and  authority  is  wanted,  to  assist  them." 

Every  Japanese  is  registered  (or  is  supposed  to  be  regis- 
tered) in  some  temple,  and  whenever  he  removes  his  resi- 
dence, the  Nanushi,  or  head  man  of  the  temple,  gives  a  cer- 
tificate. The  books  of  each  temple  are  sent  to  Yedo,  to  the 
office  of  the  Jee  sha,  where  they  are  copied.  These  officers 
act  as  judges  in  disputes  between  priests  of  one  temple  with 
those  of  another ;  between  Daimios  in  disputes  about  bound- 
aries; between  Samurai  and  Hattamoto,  but  not  between 
merchants  or  farmers.  The  prison  under  their  charge  is 
better  kept  and  under  milder  restrictions  than  other  pris- 


THE   DAIMIOS.  241 

ons.  They  have  under  them  numerous  Do  sin,  or  runners 
of  a  higher  class,  to  seize  criminals.  As  they  have  to  keep 
up  the  prisons  under  their  charge,  the  office  is  looked  upon 
as  one  of  expenditure  and  not  of  profit.  The  numerous  in- 
terests with  graduated  degrees  of  ruling  power  in  Japan 
render  great  tact  necessary  in  disputes  between  these  inter- 
ests. The  monasteries  and  priesthood  are  still  very  power- 
ful, the  Daimios  become  jealous  of  interference,  and  the 
interests  of  those  holding  of  the  Shiogoon,  as  well  as  of 
those  holding  land  of  the  Emperor  in  the  Go  ki  nai,  must 
be  considered;  so  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  not  only 
that  distinct  laws  should  be  laid  down,  but  also  that  it 
should  be  established  who  are  to  be  the  judges  between 
rival  claimants. 

One  temple  lord  sits  on  the  bench  in  the  Hio  jo  sho  every 
month  in  rotation,  and  he  is  thence  spoken  of  as  Tski  ban. 

O  Russui  are  Hattamoto  officers,  but  rank  as  Daimios, 
who  have  charge  of  the  apartments  of  the  Shiogoon,  and 
of  the  women  of  the  palace  when  he  is  absent.  They  are 
all  old  men.  All  young  persons  entering  or  leaving  the 
private  quarter  of  the  palace  are  examined  as  to  sex.  In 
the  office  there  is  a  female  examiner.  These  officers  give 
passes  to  females  on  visits  of  business  or  ceremony.  There 
are  generally  eight  officers,  who  have  each  under  them  ten 
Yoriki  and  fifty  Do  sin.  The  income  of  each  is  15,000  koku. 

Owo  ban  kashira. — These  are  the  captains  of  the  great 
guards  of  the  castle  of  Yedo.  There  are  twelve,  seven  Dai- 
mios and  five  Hattamoto.  Their  duties  are  entirely  military. 
Under  these  twelve  are  one  hundred  Owo  ban,  who  are  all 
Hattamoto. 

Sho  eeng  ban  kashira  is  also  a  military  office,  apparently 
the  bodyguard  of  the  Shiogoon.  There  are  ten  commanding 
officers. 

Okosho  ban  kashira.  — These  seem  to  be  lords-in-waiting 
upon  the  Shiogoon,  of  whom  there  are  ten.  They  are  Hat- 
tamoto, each  having  thirty  men  under  him. 

Owo  metsuki — literally,  great  or  senior  attached  eye. — 

ii 


242  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Of  these  there  are  five  head  men.  Beneath  these  are  the 
Metsuki,  and  an  inferior  body  of  men  called  Katchi  metsuki. 

This  is  a  very  important  department  of  the  government 
of  Japan.  The  title  is  frequently  translated  "spy,"  and  the 
duties  seem  in  some  cases  to  corroborate  this  view.  But  the 
idea  of  espionage  by  no  means  conveys  an  accurate  under- 
standing of  the  subjects  under  the  care  or  control  of  these 
officers. 

One  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  superintendence  of  this 
department  is  the  eight  roads  of  Japan,  and  the  regulations 
of  the  laws  of  these  roads.  Another  is  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  officers  in  reference  to  state  dress,  their  intended 
marriages,  going  and  coming  to  Yedo,  and  visiting  else- 
where; death  and  mourning  of  officers;  receiving  reports 
sent  in  by  the  branches  of  the  office  in  the  provinces  as  to 
the  military  equipment  of  Daimios,  the  uniforms,  devices, 
flags,  which  they  use;  in  regard  to  religion,  and  especially 
the  Roman  Catholic ;  as  to  the  Yakunins,  or  inferior  officers 
of  the  Shiogoon's  government,  their  number  and  duties,  and 
the  census  of  Japan.  Such  are  some  of  the  different  kinds 
of  business  which  come  before  this  office. 

The  laws  of  the  roads  are  regulated  hi  a  separate  branch 
of  the  office,  under  the  Do  chiu  boonio.  The  book  of  laws 
or  orders  is  the  -Do  chiu  boonio  kokoroee,  and,  in  its  present 
form,  seems  to  have  been  published  about  1840. 

There  were  formerly  five  highways,  afterward  two  were 
added,  and  by  the  addition  of  the  road  to  the  temple  of 
Nikko,  there  are  now  eight.  The  office  issues  rules  for 
Daimios  and  Hattamoto  passing  along  these  roads,  and  for 
merchants  and  farmers  when  traveling.  In  every  village  or 
town  along  the  road  these  rules  are  affixed  in  the  To  iya 
or  government  office,  for  all  the  villages  upon  these  high- 
roads are  to  a  certain  extent  under  the  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment, even  when  the  road  passes  through  the  territories  of 
Daimios.  The  following  are  headings  of  these  regulations : 

As  to  providing  two-sworded  men  with  lodgings  on  the 
road,  and  cangos  or  chairs  to  travel  in. 


THE   DAIM10S.  243 

As  to  children  traveling,  two  in  one  cango,  or  mother 
and  child. 

As  to  members  of  the  Gorochiu  when  traveling. 

As  to  different  customs,  if  such  officer  be  traveling  on 
private  or  public  account. 

As  to  giving  a  passport  to  a  traveler  (SaM  buray) ;  as  to 
where  he  is  to  sleep,  and  at  what  hotels  he  is  to  stop  on  the 
road. 

As  to  traveling  during  the  night,  if  it  be  necessary. 

Rules  as  to  sleeping  at  towns. 

Rules  as  to  (tcha  tatte  onna)  servant- women,  and  other 
descriptions  of  women,  in  inns. 

To  keep  accounts  in  each  town  of  the  number  of  coolies 
and  horses  used  on  the  road  each  day. 

As  to  Buddhist  priests  when  traveling  on  the  road. 

As  to  affixing  in  six  public  places  in  Yedo  the  (Kosatsu) 
laws  of  roads. 

As  to  the  rates  for  carrying  goods. 

As  to  the  officers  who  examine  the  weights  of  goods. 

Laws  as  to  the  porters  on  the  road. 

Rules  as  to  going  into  and  leaving  hotels  on  the  road. 

Rules  as  to  government  goods  carried  upon  the  roads. 

As  to  officers  who  travel  at  government  expense — as  the 
Tenso,  Emperor's  messengers,  etc. 

As  to  how  many  porters  each  Daimio  is  entitled  to,  and 
the  rate  of  payment.  If  he  wants  more,  he  must  pay  at  a 
higher  rate. 

If  one  of  his  servants  travels  by  himself,  he  is  not  to  be 
provided  for. 

Rules  as  to  tenants  of  government  lands  when  they  come 
to  Yedo. 

Rules  as  to  the  dress  and  payment  of  meshi  mori  onna — 
that  is,  servant- women  who  occasionally  act  in  both  capaci- 
ties— in  inns. — By  law  two  women  only  are  allowed  in  each 
inn,  but  more  are  kept,  and  fines  paid  for  keeping  them. 
The  strictness  and  minute  care  with  which  the  Japanese 
government  watches  over  its  people  is  shown  in  the  regula- 


244  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

tions  laid  down  for  public  women,  known  as  Joro.  This 
name  is  only  applied  to  those  who  are  kept  in  government 
establishments  in  the  larger  towns,  as  Yedo,  Osaka,  Miako, 
Nagasaki,  where  a  place  in  the  town  is  set  apart  for  their 
residence.  The  laws  for  the  regulation  of  the  morals  are 
very  different  in  different  parts  of  the  empire.  In  the  ter- 
ritories of  some  Daimios,  as  Tosa  and  Kanga,  public  prosti- 
tutes are  not  permitted,  indecent  songs  are  interdicted,  and 
the  inns  and  bathing-houses  regulated ;  but  the  government 
of  the  Shiogoon  considers  these  things  to  be  necessary  evils, 
and  takes  them  under  its  own  charge.  The  finest  women  in 
Japan  are  said  to  be  in  Etsizen  and  Idzumo,  where  they 
are  famed  for  the  fineness  of  their  complexions  and  smooth- 
ness of  skin,  with  higher  noses  and  little  or  110  smallpox. 
It  is  said  that  men  cannot  leave  Neegata,  where  the  public 
women  are  called  Hak  piak  ya  gokay,  or  808  widows.  This 
name  arose  after  one  of  the  desolating  battles  in  old  times, 
in  which  that  number  of  husbands  was  slain  and  the  widows 
obliged  to  seek  for  wherewithal  to  live.  In  one  night  in  1860 
the  officers  in  Yokohama  seized  108  young  women  who  were 
suspected  of  leading  immoral  lives  without  a  license  from 
government.  The  most  beautiful  public  women  of  Yedo 
annually  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  processions,  or  mat- 
suri,  and  their  portraits  are  sold  and  hung  up  about  the 
large  temples  and  places  of  resort. 

Laws  as  to  thieves  and  robbers  on  the  highway. 

As  to  fires  breaking  out  in  villages  on  the  road. 

As  to  the  duties  of  Daimios  on  such  occasions. 

As  to  rivers,  and  crossing  them.  Crossing  rivers  is  often 
very  dangerous,  and  the  porters  are  made  responsible  for 
knowing  where  the  path  of  safety  lies,  and  when  it  is  un- 
safe to  attempt  passage. 

As  to  giving  public  notice  at  a  hotel  before  a  Daimio 
arrives. 

As  to  harai  kata  (sweeping  and  cleaning  the  road  before 
a  Daimio  arrives). 

As  to  things  lost  on  the  road. 


THE   DAIMIOS.  245 

When  a  Daimio's  servants  are  lodged  in  a  separate  inn 
from  their  master. 

If  a  man  become  insane  upon  the  road. 

As  to  fighting  among  gentlemen's  servants. 

As  to  deaths  by  killing  in  such  quarrels. 

As  to  Daimios  falling  sick  on  the  road. 

As  to  Daimios  returning  to  Yedo  on  account  of  sickness. 

As  to  rivers  when  impassable  from  high  floods,  what 
Daimios  are  to  do. 

As  to  obstructions  from  unexpected  convulsions  of  nature, 
such  as  an  earthquake,  flood,  etc. 

As  to  servants  of  Daimios  who  have  died  upon  the  road. 

As  to  behavior  of  Daimios  when  meeting  the  Tenso  or 
Koongays  upon  the  road. 

As  to  the  rates  for  carrying  Daimios'  luggage. 

As  to  occasionally  examining  goods  contained  in  boxes. 

As  to  government  packages  having  the  go  shu  een,  or 
red  seal,  upon  them. 

As  to  government  packages  passing  through  Yedo. 

As  to  the  porters  of  Yedo. 

As  to  persons  wishing  to  travel  very  quickly. 

As  to  Owo  ban  kashira,  captains  of  the  guard  of  Yedo, 
when  traveling. 

As  to  porters  who  have  become  sick,  or  who  may  have 
run  away. 

"When  sometimes  a  passport  has  not  been  previously  given 
on  the  road,  the  Daimio  to  give  to  the  keeper  of  the  govern- 
ment inn  his  seal  and  a  paper  to  this  effect. 

Some  officers  travel  free  on  the  road,  and  their  expenses 
become  a  tax  upon  the  people  living  in  villages  along  the 
road,  and  who  are  supposed  to  benefit  by  the  travelers.  Of 
such  are  Daimios  coming  to  pay  respects  to  a  new  Shiogoon 
upon  his  accession.  In  1861  the  Ooyay  no  mia,  or  High- 
priest  of  Yedo,  traveled  with  250  followers.  He  was  about 
nineteen  years  of  age.  The  walls  of  the  inns  at  which  he 
stopped  were  newly  papered,  and  new  clean  mats  put  on  the 
floors.  For  this  the  villages  paid,  he  paying  one  boo — i.e., 


246  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Is.  6d. ;  and  on  leaving,  his  servants  tore  the  paper  off  and 
cut  the  mats,  that  they  might  not  be  used  again. 

As  to  the  Shoshidai,  or  envoy  of  the  Shiogoon,  when 
traveling. 

As  to  the  governors  of  the  castles  of  Osaka,  Soonpu,  or 
Miako,  or  the  guards  of  these  castles.  Governors  of  places 
held  of  the  Shiogoon,  but  at  great  distances  from  Yedo,  as 
Nagasaki  and  Hakodadi. 

As  to  Koongays  and  such  high  officers  when  traveling. 

As  to  Ray  kayshi,  or  messengers  sent  annually  to  Nikko 
by  the  Emperor. 

As  to  carriage  of  ingredients  for  making  gunpowder. 

The  Daikwangs,  who  look  after  the  government  farms 
and  woods.  All  of  their  men  and  goods  are  carried  along 
the  public  roads  at  the  expense  of  the  villages. 

By  this  office  the  ceremonial  due  to  high  officers  upon  the 
road  is  arranged. 

If  a  Daimio  in  his  norimono  meet  a  high  Koongay — one 
of  the  Sekkay  or  Monzekke — his  porters  must  not  walk  on, 
but  must  stop  till  the  high  officer  has  passed,  but  he  need  not 
get  out. 

The  same  respect  is  to  be  paid  to  the  otchatsubo,  or  jars 
containing  the  tea  for  the  use  of  the  Shiogoon. 

A  Byshing — i.e.,  one  of  the  higher  retinue  of  a  Daimio 
— must  leave  his  norimono  and  kneel  down,  taking  off 
his  hat. 

The  same  respect  is  to  be  shown  by  these  Daimios  and 
Byshings  to  anything  bearing  the  red  seal  of  the  Shiogoon, 
to  the  great  guards  bringing  up  muskets,  to  the  governors 
of  the  castles  at  Miako,  Soonpu,  and  Osaka,  and  to  the 
Shoshidai. 

When  a  Daimio  meets  the  Tenso,  his  norimono  is  to  be 
carried  slowly,  and  on  one  side  of  the  road. 

A  Byshing  must  kneel  and  take  off  his  hat. 

Porters  can  be  obtained  from  4  A.M.  to  8  P.M.,  but  not  at 
any  later  hour. 

Koongay  and  Monzekke  are  to  be  provided  at  the  public 


THE   DAIMIOS.  247 

expense  with  35  horses  and  50  porters.    If  they  require  more, 
they  must  defray  the  expense  themselves. 

The  "three  families,"  and  higher  Daimios  and  Emperor's 
messengers,  are  allowed  100  horses  and  100  porters;  lower 
Daimios,  50  horses  and  men.  Some  Daimios  are  not  allowed 
to  travel  on  the  tokaido. 

It  is  enjoined  that  members  of  the  Gorochiu,  the  envoy 
and  governors  of  Osaka  castle,  when  they  meet  a  Daimio 
upon  the  highway,  ought  to  speak  to  him;  but  if  they  do 
not  wish  to  speak,  they  may  say  that  they  are  not  well. 

If  they  meet  in  the  same  hotel  at  night,  the  Daimio  is  to 
ask  them  if  the  Shiogoon  requires  his  assistance  in  any  way. 

When  they  meet  on  the  road,  the  Daimio  must  open  the 
door  of  his  norimono  and  act  as  if  he  were  going  to  get  out, 
but  the  other  must  request  him  not  to  do  so. 

Otchatsubo,  or  jars  containing  tea  for  the  use  of  the 
Shiogoon,  are  treated  with  great  respect.  If  a  captain  of 
a  guard  meets  these  jars  carried  by  porters,  he  makes  his 
bearers  go  to  one  side,  and  his  followers  kneel  and  take  off 
their  hats.  The  porters  call  out  as  they  go  along  the  roads, 
and  all  the  common  people  kneel  down.  This  custom  was 
begun  by  lyeyas.  Recently  there  have  been  slights  and  in- 
sults offered  to  these  jars,  to  show  personal  feeling  on  the 
part  of  some  of  those  opposed  to  the  present  state  of  things, 
as  Satsuma. 

Byshing  entitled  to  carry  a  spear,  upon  meeting  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Gorochiu,  or  the  Shoshidai,  or  tea- jars,  etc.,  must 
wait  till  such  dignitary  is  past.  Byshing  not  entitled  to  a 
spear  are-  -mder  the  same  customs  as  common  people. 

Two-sworded  men  singly  meeting  the  tea-jars,  Gorochiu, 
etc.,  stop  and  take  off  the  hat  only,  but  do  not  kneel  down. 

All  common  people  must  kneel  down  and  take  off  their 
hats  to  Koongays,  Shoshidai,  Gorochiu,  Oban  kashira;  and, 
though  there  be  no  law  for  it,  a  Daimio  often  takes  it  into 
his  own  hands  and  punishes  or  kills  a  man  or  woman  who 
does  not  kneel  down  while  he  is  passing.  Such  was  the  case 
with  Shimadzu  Saburo  and  Mr.  Richardson  in  1862;  but 


248  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Shimadzu  was  not  even  a  Daimio,  but  the  father  of  the 
young  Daimio.  On  one  occasion  a  Byshing  of  Kiogoku, 
Nagato  no  kami,  killed  a  man  of  Matzdaira,  Sanuki  no  kami, 
for  turning  aside  upon  the  road  and  making  water  while 
his  norimono  was  passing;  while  another  ordered  a  woman 
to  be  cut  down  for  standing  and  looking  at  him. 

A  Daimio  with  an  income  of  200,000  koku,  witu  20  horse- 
men and  120  footmen  in  his  retinue,  is  allowed  300  porters. 
One  of  100,000  koku,  with  10  horsemen  and  80  footmen,  is 
allowed  150  porters.  One  with  50,000  koku,  with  7  horse- 
men and  60  footmen,  is  allowed  100  porters;  and  so  down- 
ward in  proportion. 

When  a  Daimio  meets  a  Gomiodai,  or  envoy  from  the 
Shiogoon,  he  is  to  give  him  half  the  road,  and  to  stop  his 
norimono  while  the  envoy  is  passing. 

The  same  respect  is  to  be  shown  to  envoys  from  the 
Emperor  (Chokoo  shi),  the  royal  family,  the  Tenso,  and 
other  high  officers. 

In  the  case  where  one  Daimio  has  taken  possession  of 
an  inn  on  the  road,  and  another  comes  from  an  opposite 
direction  and  wishes  accommodation,  this  is  sometimes  the 
cause  of  serious  fighting. 

If  a  Byshing  be  in  the  retinue  of  his  superior  lord,  and  a 
government  official  with  the  red  seal  be  met,  he  must  not 
get  out  of  his  norimono  or  off  his  horse;  but  if  alone,  he 
must  do  so. 

If  a  Daimio  meet  an  imperial  envoy  (Chokoo  shi)  or 
Eenshi,  or  a  member  of  the  royal  family,  a  relative  of  the 
Emperor,  or  a  high  Koongay,  he  may,  if  he  wishes,  turn  off 
the  road  up  a  by-road  till  the  great  man  shall  have  passed, 
to  save  himself  from  getting  out  of  his  norimono  and  kneel- 
ing down,  or,  if  he  be  riding  on  horseback,  from  dis- 
mounting. 

To  lower  Koongays  the  Daimio  must  give  half  the  road. 

If  a  Byshing  or  Hattamoto  is  on  government  business 
with  the  red  seal,  he  is  to  be  treated  as  a  Daimio. 

To  one  of  the  "three  families"  a  Daimio  is  to  get  out  of 


THE   DAIMIOS.  249 

his  norimono  and  propose  to  kneel,  but  is  to  be  requested 
not  to  do  so.  As  a  general  rule,  to  men  of  the  third  rank 
and  above,  Daimios  must  kneel ;  to  men  of  the  fourth  rank 
and  below,  no  ceremonial  is  required, 

These  headings  may  give  some  idea  of  what  the  duties  of 
the  road  department  of  the  Owo  metski  office  are. 

It  is  further  the  duty  of  the  office  to  see  that  the  roads 
and  bridges  are  kept  in  repair. 

From  these  rules  it  is  evident  that  great  exactness  must 
be  insisted  upon  in  traveling  along  the  highroads  as  to  the 
days  when  officers  are  to  leave  each  place,  and  the  houses 
at  which  they  are  to  stop,  in  order  that  there  may  be  no 
confusion  in  official  arrangements,  and  to  avoid  unpleasant 
collisions  which  might  happen  on  the  road.  The  office  must 
even  at  times  take  into  consideration  the  private  feelings  of 
individuals.  At  one  time  the  young  Eeyee  Kamong  no 
kami  was  coming  up  to  Yedo  with  a  large  retinue,  and 
Shimadzu  Saburo  of  Satsuma  was  going  down  to  Miako. 
In  two  days  they  were  to  meet  on  the  tokaido,  when  the 
whole  country  expected  to  see  a  fight,  for  which  both  parties 
were  prepared.  But  the  office  hearing  of  it,  sent  peremptory 
orders  to  Eeyee  to  go  round  by  another  road. 

The  Owo  metski  office  must  be  consulted  previous  to  the 
betrothal  or  marriage  of  a  Daimio  or  his  eldest  son,  and  also 
previous  to  the  adoption  of  a  son  by  a  Daimio.  Marriages 
and  adoptions  are  generally  made  in  their  own  class,  and 
frequently  among  relatives;  but  some  of  the  Daimios  are 
married  to  the  daughters  of  the  highest  Koongays. 

The  members  of  this  office  appear  to  act  as  reporters  in 
all  government  meetings.  Indeed,  whenever  two  or  three 
persons  meet  together  in  Japan,  there  seems  to  be  some 
member  of  this  silently  observant  office  present.  Reports  of 
everything  that  goes  on  throughout  the  empire  are  sent  in 
to  this  office  for  the  information  of  government,  and  these 
reports  are  recorded  for  reference.  Men  acting  nominally 
as  horseboys  and  servants  in  the  foreign  consulates  have 
been  emissaries  from  this  department. 


250  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

By  law  every  innkeeper  is  obliged  to  keep  a  book  (Yado 
cho),  in  which  every  traveler  is  noted  down,  and  what  he 
may  do  or  say  that  may  be  thought  worth  reporting.  Simi- 
lar books  (Gio  koo  cho)  are  kept  in  public  brothels,  in  which 
are  noted  the  names  of  men  frequenting  them  (if  the  names 
can  be  got),  or  marks  upon  their  bodies ;  how  much  money 
they  spend,  the  saki  they  drink,  etc.  These  are  all  for  the 
use  of  this  office. 

The  prevention  of  the  spread  of  the  Roman  Catholic  or 
Jashiu  mong  sect  is  one  of  the  cares  of  Dai  Kwang  depart- 
ment of  the  Owo  metski  office.  The  names,  with  the  gene- 
alogy, of  all  the  families  among  which  there  were  known 
to  be  Roman  Catholic  converts,  are  carefully  kept.  Boards, 
called  Christang  hatto  kaki,  on  which  are  printed  a  prohibi- 
tion of  the  Christian  religion,  are  put  up  in  every  large  tem- 
ple. Individuals  belonging  to  the  families  under  observation 
are  not  allowed  to  move  their  place  of  residence  without  per- 
mission of  this  office.  If  one  dies,  intimation  must  be  given 
to  the  office,  when  an  officer  is  sent  to  view  the  body,  and  all 
the  relatives  sign  a  certificate.  Or  if  at  a  distance,  it  must 
be  preserved  in  salt.  The  Dai  Kwang  office  superintended 
the  Yay  boomi,  or  trampling  on  the  cross,  once  a  year  at 
Nagasaki.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  office  to  examine  for  Chris- 
tians all  over  the  western  provinces  once  in  three  years. 
"Whenever  a  child  is  born  in  a  family  formerly  Christian, 
notice  must  be  given  to  the  office.  Marriages  must  be  re- 
ported ;  and  also  the  intended  adoption  of  a  son.  Adopted 
sons  are  sometimes  thrown  back  again  by  the  adopting  par- 
ents, but  Christians  are  not  allowed  to  do  this.  A  register 
for  the  same  purpose  is  kept  by  the  governor  of  Miako. 
These  forms  are  kept  up  to  the  great-grandchildren  of  the 
original  Roman  Catholics,  but  have  of  late  fallen  into  desue- 
tude; but  it  may  hereafter  prove  the  means  of  stirring  up 
dying  embers  of  faith  among  the  descendants  in  the  recol- 
lections of  their  ancestors.  The  members  of  this  depart- 
ment, while  sitting  with  others,  report,  but  have  neither  a 
voice  nor  a  vote. 


THE   DAIMIOS.  251 

Match!  boonio. — The  street  governors,  or,  as  they  may 
be  called,  governors  or  mayors  of  Yedo.  (The  Shiogoon 
himself  is  considered  governor  of  Yedo,  and  Mito  is  heredi- 
tary Fuko  Shiogoon  or  Vice-Shiogoon,  and  ought  as  such  to 
reside  constantly  in  Yedo.)  Of  these  there  are  two;  the  one 
over  the  east,  the  other  over  the  west  part.  The  authority 
of  these  officers  is  chiefly  over  the  mercantile  class.  They 
have  little  or  no  power  over  the  Samurai,  or  two-sworded 
gentry.  Their  duties  are  with  the  streets  and  police  of  Yedo. 
They  sit  as  judges  alternately,  and  take  cognizance  of  all 
questions  and  quarrels  among  the  mercantile  class.  Upon  a 
Daimio  coming  to  stay  at  Yedo  each  alternate  year,  he  is  to 
call  on  and  pay  his  respects  to  the  Gorochiu,  Wakatoshiyori, 
Owo  metski,  and  Matchi  boonio,  before  he  goes  to  his  own 
house. 

Go  Kanjo  boonio  may  be  called  the  head  of  the  exchequer. 
These  are  two  officers  who  keep  the  accounts  of  the  empire; 
they  also  act  as  judges  in  all  cases  between  persons  of  the 
agricultural  class.  They  have  great  power.  Of  the  Do  chiu 
boonio,  or  governors  of  the  roads,  one  is  always  Kanjo 
boonio,  and  one  is  Owo  metski.  The  mint  and  coinage  of 
money  come  under  this  department.  Under  them  they  have 
five  men  as  seconds  or  assistants,  Kanjo  gim  maku,  besides 
two  men  who  upon  alternate  days  keep  the  accounts  of  the 
expenses  in  the  Shiogoon's  palace. 

Sakushi  boonio  are  two  Hattamoto  officers,  superintend- 
ents of  the  carpenters  of  the  Shiogoon,  and  under  them  are 
four  men,  Daiko  kashira.  As  mentioned  before,  the  trade 
of  a  carpenter  is  looked  upon  in  Japan  as  a  very  honorable 
occupation. 

Besides  these,  there  are  Shta  boonio  and  Fusim  boonio, 
who  superintend  the  carpenters  of  the  offices  and  women's 
apartments,  the  wells  in  the  castle,  providing  tables,  boxes, 
mats,  etc. 

Goong  Kan. — The  naval  department  has  two  governors 
— Goong  Kan  boonio.  These  may  be  called  Lords  of  the 
Admiralty,  but  until  recently  the  office  was  one  of  com- 


253  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

paratively  minor  consideration.  There  were  four  naval  in- 
structors under  these  governors  who  had  picked  up  some 
little  knowledge  from  the  Dutch  and  from  Dutch  works  on 
naval  affairs.  Latterly,  the  office  has  become  one  of  much 
greater  importance.  Great  attention  is  being  paid  to  naval 
matters  and  to  steam,  and  the  office  has  consequently  been 
remodeled.  The  government  has  invested  largely  in  steam 
vessels,  and  has  erected  steam  works  for  making  and  repair- 
ing all  sorts  of  machinery,  and  is  making  every  attempt  to 
obtain  a  well-educated  set  of  men,  who  shall  be  thoroughly 
instructed  in  all  the  branches  requisite  for  naval  officers. 
At  Nagasaki  the  Japanese  government  has  one  large  set  of 
works,  and  another  in  the  vicinity  of  Yedo.  A  dry  dock  has 
been  excavated  for  the  cleaning  and  repair  of  the  vessels  of 
government.  Until  lately  the  Japanese  government  seems 
to  have  paid  no  attention  to  keeping  any  vessels  of  war. 
Fast-rowing  boats  were  kept  near  Nagasaki,  and  one  at 
Uraga,  in  the  bay  of  Yedo,  and  at  other  stations  ordinary 
boats  were  kept.  These,  however,  were  generally  noted 
for  speed  rather  than  strength,  and  rarely  put  to  sea,  but 
watched  vessels  coming  to  land  and  overhauled  them  on 
the  part  of  the  custom  house. 

Ko  bo  shin  shi  hai. — This  seems  to  bo  an  office  for  young 
unemployed  Hattamoto  officers,  where  records  are  kept  of 
what  each  excels  in,  for  the  information  of  government. 

Shin  ban  kashira. — School  for  teaching  young  officers 
about  the  court  riding,  rifle-shooting,  etc. 

Okosho  is  a  general  name  for  officers  waiting  on  the 
person  of  the  Shiogoon. 

Naka  oku  go  ban  shiu. — Some  of  the  private  guards  of 
the  Shiogoon. 

Hoko  nando. — Men  who  look  after  the  dresses  and  clothes 
of  the  Shiogoon ;  and  others  are  in  the  flag  office  or  the  spear 
office. 

Hiaku  nin  Kumi  no  kashira. — These  are  guards.  They 
were  originally  Yamabooshi  priests,  called  Negoro  and  Nen- 
goro,  or,  as  the  translator  of  the  letters  writes  it,  Negroes,  in 


THE   DAIMIOS.  253 

the  large  monastery  of  Kumano,  in  the  province  of  Kii ;  and 
after  their  buildings  were  burned  down  by  Taikosama,  and 
their  lands  confiscated,  they  joined  the  army  in  a  body, 
and  lyeyas  attached  them  to  himself  as  guards. 

There  are  departments  for  superintending  the  manufact- 
ure of  bows  and  arrows,  and  muskets,  rifles  and  cannon. 

Another  office  has  the  charge  of  balls,  shells,  powder, 
etc. ;  and  another  has  the  charge  of  the  armory,  containing 
bows  and  arrows,  rifles  and  coats  of  mail. 

Hon  maro  russui  ban. — The  Hon  maro  is  the  name  of 
that  part  of  the  castle  or  shiro  of  Yedo  occupied  by  the  Shio- 
goon.  Six  officers  keep  it  when  he  leaves  it  temporarily. 

Ni  no  maro  russui  ban. — Keepers  of  the  part  assigned  to 
the  son  or  concubines  of  the  Shiogoon. 

Hikeshi. — These  are  fire-brigades  in  the  service  of  the 
Shiogoon  in  Yedo,  of  which  there  are  twelve,  one  to  a  dis- 
trict; each  under  the  charge  of  a  Daimio. 

These  guard  against  fires  in  the  castle,  the  government 
godowns  in  the  town,  and  the  large  temples  where  the  tombs 
of  the  Shiogoons  are.  Each  brigade  has  a  leader,  who  holds 
on  the  end  of  a  long  pole  a  mattoyay,  or  white  solid  device, 
easily  seen  at  night.  The  duty  of  this  leader  seems  to  be  to 
stand  as  near  the  fire,  and  as  long  as  he  possibly  can ;  and  in 
fulfilling  this  duty  they  appear  to  rival  the  fabulous  sala- 
mander. Each  brigade  has  overcoats  with  distinguishing 
marks,  and  masks  the  better  to  stand  the  heat.  However, 
in  wooden  buildings  their  organization  seems  of  little  use. 
The  fires  generally  wear  out  of  themselves,  the  inhabitants 
carrying  off  their  money,  clothes,  mats  and  windows  to 
places  of  safety.  There  are  other  fire-engines  and  fire-bri- 
gades in  Yedo  under  the  Matchi  boonio.  The  town  is  divided 
into  forty-eight  districts,  corresponding  to  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  I,  Ro,  Ha,  to  each  district,  and  there  is  a  brigade. 
If  a  fire  breaks  out  in  the  Ro  district,  all  the  men  of  the  Ro 
brigade  go  to  it.  The  rest  of  the  town  unburned  pays  each 
man  of  the  brigade  employed  four  tenpos,  or  about  6d.,  after 
the  fire. 


254  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

Daimios  keep  men  of  their  own  as  firemen,  generally  men 
in  some  small  disgrace,  whose  names  have  been  erased  from 
the  town  books  or  dismissed  from  employment. 

At  one  time  tires  occurred  so  frequently  in  Yedo  that  a 
notification  was  issued  that  the  proprietor  of  the  first  house 
in  which  a  fire  should  thereafter  originate  should  be  trans- 
ported to  the  islands.  The  first  offender  was  Mito.  It  would 
not  do  to  transport  him,  so  he  fell  upon  the  plan  of  borrow- 
ing, through  the  priesthood,  on  payment  of  a  large  sum, 
30,000  days  from  eternity,  beyond  which  time  he  had  little 
prospect  of  living.  This  has  frequently  since  been  found 
to  be  an  ingenious  plan  for  men  of  wealth  escaping 
punishments. 

Metski  are  lower  officers  of  the  Owo  metski  department, 
and  seem  to  act  as  judges  in  civil  cases.  There  are  fourteen 
Metski. 

Tskybang  are  messengers,  attendants  in  war  or  during 
fires  to  the  Shiogoon. 

Taka  jo. — Keepers  of  the  Shiogoon's  hawks. 

Katchi  ngashira. — The  officer  who  superintends  the  men 
lining  the  streets  when  the  Shiogoon  goes  out — a  ceremony, 
however,  which  has  been  done  away  with. 

Jiu  ri  si  ho — meaning  "ten  miles  in  four  directions." — 
Men  whose  duty  it  is  to  take  care  that  no  one  shoots  within 
ten  ri — i.e.,  twenty-five  miles — of  the  castle.  Even  within 
this  distance  there  are  places  in  which  native  sportsmen  are 
allowed  to  shoot,  for  which  permission  is  given  upon  appli- 
cation. An  infraction  of  this  law  was  the  reason  given  for 
the  seizure  of  an  Englishman  in  1859 — one  of  the  causes 
celebres  in  the  early  history  of  Great  Britain's  relations 
with  Japan.  This  is  a  sub-branch  of  the  Owo  metski  office. 

Shiu  mong  aratame  is  the  branch  of  the  same  office  which 
examines  into  the  religion  of  individuals,  especially  with  the 
object  of  restraining  the  spread  of  Christianity. 

Do  chiu  boonio  is  the  officer  who  has  charge  of  the  high- 
roads, bridges,  etc. ,  under  the  Owo  metski. 

To  zoku  (Tau  tsih — catch  thief)  Hi  tske  is  the  same  as 


THE   DAIMIOS.  255 

Kai  yaku — i.e.,  reforming  officers.  This  is,  in  its  subordi- 
nate offices,  a  very  wide  department — aiming  at  thorough 
espionage,  secrecy  in  detection,  and  surveillance,  as  well  as 
overpowering  strength  in  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  govern- 
ment. The  whole  of  society  in  Japan  is  permeated  by  offi- 
cers of  this  department.  All  public  places  are  full  of  them. 
Inns  are  kept  by  them ;  they  reside  as  priests  in  temples,  or 
wherever  the  general  public  resorts.  The  keepers  of  these 
inns  and  farmers  in  the  country  are  frequently  in  the  employ 
of  the  police.  There  is  a  saying  in  Japan,  "Dorobo  oi  zen" 
— implying  that  it  is  better  to  put  money  on  a  thief's  back 
than  to  apply  to  the  police.  The  police  runners  have  means 
at  the  stations  for  constantly  strengthening  themselves  by 
gymnastic  exercises,  and  are  taught  to  tie  up  criminals  in  a 
variety  of  ways,  from  so  lightly  as  to  lie  like  a  net,  to  so 
tightly  that  before  long  the  victim  is  strangled.  They  are 
always  provided  with  a  short  iron  baton,  with  which,  in 
case  of  resistance,  they  strike  their  man  over  the  head  to 
stun  him. 

Ko  boo  shio  boonio. — The  military  school  where  drill  ex- 
ercise, the  use  of  weapons  of  war,  fortification  and  military 
tactics  generally,  are  taught  to  young  officers.  There  are 
three  officers  over  the  establishment,  but  many  teachers  of 
the  different  branches.  The  school  is  in  Owo  ngawa  matchi 
or  street  in  Yedo.  Artillery  is  taught  near  the  garden  of 
the  Shiogoon  at  Hama  go  teng.  Sword-practice  with  sticks 
(kenjits)  is  a  favorite  amusement  with  young  officers.  They 
have  sticks  with  basket  guards,  with  which  they  practice. 
Before  beginning,  each  puts  on  an  iron  wire  grating  over 
the  head,  a  bamboo-and-leather  belt  around  the  chest,  and 
bamboo  guards  for  the  arms  with  gloves.  Yet  with  all  this 
one  is  sometimes  severely  handled.  The  sword  is  long,  two- 
handed,  sharp  on  one  edge  and  at  the  point,  and  for  about 
two  inches  from  the  point  on  the  back ;  so  that  they  either 
cut  or  thrust,  and  aim  at  cutting  the  neck  with  a  back  cut. 
They  are  very  dexterous  at  the  use  of  this  weapon,  whether 
against  a  sword  or  a  bayonet  or  spear.  Practice  with  the 


256  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

rifle  is  also  very  common  in  the  government  schools,  and  in 
tho  grounds  of  Daimios  about  Yedo.  There  is  a  large  pa- 
rade ground  or  open  country  to  the  back  of  Yedo  for  the  use 
of  the  military,  called  Hiro. 

Naka  kawa  bansho. — An  office  for  the  examination  of 
boats  coming  from  and  passing  to  the  interior  by  the  com- 
municating branch  of  the  river — the  Naka  gawa.  Upon  this 
stream  boats  can  go  to  the  provinces  on  the  northwest,  north 
and  east  of  Yedo.  Besides  these  there  are  officers  who  have 
charge  of  the  Shiogoon's  barges  and  boats. 

There  are  officials  whose  duty  is  to  examine  into  alleged 
encroachments  by  Daimios  in  Yedo  upon  the  roads,  streets, 
rivers,  or  sea.  The  superficial  quantity  of  land  as  gardens 
that  an  officer  may  hold  in  Yedo  is  regulated  by  his  official 
income.  (One  tsubo  equals  thirty-six  square  feet. )  An  in- 
come of  from  300  to  900  koku  may  have  500  tsubo,  18,000 
square  feet;  1,000  to  1,900  koku  may  have  700  tsubo,  25,200 
square  feet;  2,900  koku  may  have  1,000  tsubo,  36,000  square 
feet;  4,000  koku  may  have  1,500  tsubo,  54,000  square  feet. 
And  so  on  up  to  150,000,  whose  allotment  is  7,000  tsubo,  or 
about  500  feet  square. 

There  are  sword-keepers  of  the  Shiogoon,  and  also  keep- 
ers of  the  books  or  library,  and  a  keeper  of  the  presents, 
gifts,  or  tribute  paid  by  each  Daimio.  Gifts  as  tribute  are 
being  received  daily,  and  are  regulated  by  order.  But  fre- 
quently handsome  presents  are  voluntarily  made  by  Daimios, 
perhaps  in  some  cases  for  favors  to  come.  For  instance, 
Owarri  is  ordered  to  present  to  the  Shiogoon  upon  the  first 
month,  third  day,  congratulatory  cakes. 

Upon  the  third  and  seventh  months  a  large  noshi — sym- 
bol of  a  present  with  a  piece  of  dried  fish — with  paper  and 
two  tubs  of  wine. 

On  the  18th  of  the  fourth  month,  fish;  and  again  in  the 
same  month,  A-i,  a  fresh-water  fish,  considered  a  deli- 
cacy. 

On  the  fourth  and  eighth  months,  the  same  fish  preserved 
in  vinegar. 


THE  DAIMIOS.  257 

On  the  sixth  month,  the  first  day,  ice.     It  is  a  custom  in 
Japan  to  use  ice  upon  that  day. 

On  the  sixth  and  seventh  months,  muskmelon. 

In  hot  weather,   in  summer,   anything  he  thinks  may 


On  the  sixth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  one  obang  (a  large 
gold  coin,  worth  above  £6)  or  more. 

During  the  ninth  and  tenth  months,  persimmons — the 
best  come  from  Mino. 

During  the  eleventh  month,  tea,  cakes,  fish,  saki  and 
Owarri  radishes,  which  are  very  large  and  fine. 

During  the  twelfth  month,  fish,  persimmons,  storks, 
which  are  supposed  to  be  a  royal  bird,  and  only  for  the 
table  of  the  Shiogoon;  but  many  people  eat  them. 

A  present  from  an  inferior  to  a  superior,  as  from  a  Dai- 
mio  to  the  Shiogoon,  is  "Kenjio";  the  reverse  is  "Hyrio." 
The  Shiogoon  is  said  to  have  called  in  proclamation  the 
steamer  " Emperor,"  presented  to  him  by  her  majesty  the 
Queen  of  England,  "Kenjio." 

The  Shiogoon  has  also  four  secretaries  for  private  busi- 
ness, and  others  for  government  business. 

There  are  professors  or  teachers  of  the  works  and  writ- 
ings of  Confucius.  There  is  a  school  or  college  for  the 
study  of  foreign  books;  but  the  school  was  lately  entirely 
remodeled,  and  greater  encouragement  given  to  the  study 
of  foreign  languages,  books  and  arts  and  sciences. 

There  is  an  observatory,  with  astronomers,  compilers  of 
the  almanac,  etc. 

Nineteen  physicians  attend  upon  the  Shiogoon,  five  of 
whom  practice  after  the  European  system,  and  fourteen 
after  the  Chinese.  There  are  five  surgeons,  of  whom  one 
practices  according  to  the  European  system,  and  medical 
officers  for  treatment  by  acupuncture — i.e.,  by  insertion  of 
fine  needles.  These  are  fine  flexible  wires,  not  so  strong  as 
those  used  in  imitation  of  them  in  Europe,  but  requiring  a 
tube  to  be  used  for  their  insertion  to  prevent  the  needles 
bending.  There  are  also  dentists  and  oculists  and  medical 


258  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

men  for  attending  officers  on  duty  at  the  castle,  and  others 
for  attending  officers  who  are  outside  the  castle.  There  is 
one  medical  man  for  vaccination,  together  with  consulting 
physicians ;  and  also  doctors  to  look  after  the  sick  poor  and 
destitute.  There  is  or  was  a  public  hospital  at  Koishikawa. 

There  is  an  officer  who  may  be  called  poet-laureate. 

There  are  musicians  to  the  court,  and  teachers  of  the 
Sinto  religion ;  also  teachers  of  a  game,  a  kind  of  chess,  as 
well  as  chess  itself. 

After  these  are  the  keepers  of  the  wicket-gate  by  which 
females  go  out  or  come  in,  and  men  to  look  out  from  a  lofty 
platform.  Such  are  always  raised  in  Daimio's  houses,  to 
enable  the  watchmen  to  look  down  upon  the  surrounding 
streets  by  day,  and  to  look  out  for  fires  by  night. 

There  are  keepers  of  the  jewels  belonging  to  the  Shiogoon. 

There  is  one  officer  who  looks  after  the  food  for  the  Shio- 
goon, and  keeps  the  accounts  of  the  expenditure  of  the  table, 
as  well  as  inspectors  of  rice  for  the  use  of  the  Shiogoon 
himself. 

The  head-cook  superintends  the  kitchen,  and  there  are 
also  cooks  for  guests. 

Hama  goteng  boonio.  — The  governor  of  the  Hama  goteng, 
a  garden  on  the  seaside  beneath  the  castle  in  Yedo.  This  is 
a  large  piece  of  ground  cut  off  by  a  canal,  and  formerly  kept 
as  a  private  garden  for  the  recreation  of  the  Shiogoon  on  the 
seaside.  It  is  one  of  the  places  offered  to  the  foreign  minis- 
ters for  residences  in  Yedo,  and  refused  by  them  upon,  pos- 
sibly, good  grounds.  It  has  since  that  time  been  converted 
into  a  ground  for  artillery  practice.  There  were  three  head 
gardeners. 

There  are  men  to  look  after  the  garden  for  medicinal 
herbs,  and  officers  who  have  charge  of  the  curtains  used  for 
concealment  or  privacy.  These  "macu"  have  been  some- 
times thought  by  foreigners  to  be  intended  to  represent  forts ; 
but  they  are  constantly  used  in  Japan  by  pleasure  parties 
and  others  wishing  to  be  in  the  open  air,  and  yet  to  enjoy 
a  little  privacy ;  and  it  is  considered  rude  to  look  over  the 


THE   DAIMIOS.  259 

edge  of  one  at  the  party  inclosed.  They  may  be  used  also 
in  war  to  conceal  the  numbers  of  a  host.  The  "mong,"  or 
crest  of  the  owner,  is  generally  stamped  upon  the  curtain, 
which  has  at  a  distance,  perhaps,  given  the  idea  of  loop- 
holes. 

Kane  boonio. — Four  officers  who  pay  out  and  receive 
payments  on  account  of  the  Shiogoon.  Payments  are  made 
on  the  6th,  14th  and  26th  days  of  the  month.  Money  is 
received  on  the  1st,  10th,  18th  and  24th. 

There  is  an  office  for  the  exchange  of  notes  or  orders  for 
officers.  Banks  and  Daimios  issue  paper  money,  called 
tayngata,  and  also  gin  sats  (silver  card),  kin  satz  (golden 
card).  They  are  much  used  by  the  merchants  in  Osaka  in 
business  transactions. 

Koora  boonio. — Officers  in  charge  of  the  rice  storehouses 
belonging  to  government.  These  storehouses  of  rice  are  very 
large,  as  a  great  part  of  the  pay  of  officers  is  given  in  rice. 
It  is  considered  degrading  to  speak  of  paying  money  in  sal- 
ary. Even  presents  of  money  among  the  lower  classes  are 
always  wrapped  up  in  red  paper  neatly  folded.  A  man  is 
hired  as  servant  for  so  much  rice,  known  as  footchi — i.e., 
rice  given  on  hire;  footchi  is  always  given  in  addition  to 
money,  and  it  is  proper  to  speak  of  footchi,  not  of  money- 
hire.  In  Taikosama's  time  one  footchi  was  10  ngo  of  rice; 
now  it  is  only  5  ngo,  or  about  2  pounds.  In  speaking  of  a 
man's  income,  if  pioh  (or  piculs)  are  mentioned,  rice  is 
meant;  but  if  koku,  ground  to  the  valued  extent  of  pro- 
duction. Retainers  are  paid  30  piculs  a  year,  and  half  a 
sho  (1%  pounds  of  rice)  per  diem.  In  government  pay- 
ments the  rice  is  measured  in  boxes,  not  weighed.  The 
Chinese  picul  is  equal  to  133  pounds,  but  the  Japanese  was 
generally  larger,  and  ranged  from  about  150  to  160  pounds. 
The  koku,  therefore,  would  be  450  to  500  pounds.  Accord- 
ing to  Williams,  it  contains  5.13  bushels. 

There  are  officers  in  charge  of  the  oil  and  lacquer,  and 
others  over  the  working  carpenters  and  masons.  Others  are 
over  the  government  forests  and  trees,  for  superintending 


260  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

planting,  cutting,  etc.  Special  officers  have  charge  of  the 
Shiogoon's  pleasure  barges  on  the  river.  A  tax  or  license  is 
imposed  upon  all  boats  plying  on  the  river  at  Yedo,  collected 
by  another  officer. 

Tattame  boonio. — Officer  to  look  after  the  mats  about  the 
palace.  The  whole  floor  of  the  rooms  of  the  palace  is  exactly 
covered  by  mats,  each  six  feet  long  by  three  broad.  These 
mats  are  two  inches  in  thickness,  and  are  made  of  straw 
tightly  tied  together  by  string.  This  is  covered  by  a  woven 
web  of  fine,  long,  strong,  dried  grass  from  the  seacoast.  In 
the  houses  of  all  classes  in  Japan  these  mats  are  used,  but  in 
those  of  the  wealthier  classes  they  are  very  beautifully  made, 
soft  and  pleasant  to  walk  on  for  persons  wearing  stockings 
only,  as  is  the  custom.  The  reception  room  in  the  palace  is 
called  the  Hall  of  a  Thousand  Mats.  If  there  be  such  a 
room  it  would  be  150  feet  long  by  120  wide;  but  as  the  par- 
tition walls  in  Japanese  houses  are,  between  many  of  the 
apartments,  only  light  sliding  screens,  movable  at  pleasure, 
it  may  be  easy  to  throw  open  a  very  large  room  in  an  exten- 
sive building  such  as  the  palace  is. 

There  is  a  jeweler  to  the  court,  and  auditors  of  accounts, 
who  are  also  assayers  or  examiners  of  gold  and  silver. 

There  are  teachers  of  riding  to  the  Shiogoon,  and  veteri- 
nary surgeons  and  horsebreakers. 

Katchi  me  tski. — -A  low  class  of  spies.  These  are  kept 
secretly  by  government,  and  are  employed  in  nominal  em- 
ployments, in  houses,  shops,  or  wherever  information  is 
likely  to  be  obtained.  They  are  frequently  grooms,  as  in 
this  capacity  they  accompany  their  masters  wherever  they 
go.  They  write  down  whatever  they  hear  or  see  that  is  sus- 
picious :  the  thin  paper  partitions  of  the  rooms  give  facility 
for  this,  as  they  have  only  to  put  the  tongue  against  the 
paper  and  then  push  the  finger  through,  when  a  hole  suffi- 
ciently large  is  made,  through  which  both  to  see  and  hear. 
If  these  men  allow  themselves  to  be  detected  by  Samurais, 
or  officers,  no  mercy  is  shown  to  them.  If  they  have,  as  is 
generally  the  case,  a  sort  of  written  commission,  and  this  is 


THE  D  AIM  JOS.  261 

found  upon  them,  they  are  put  to  death  and  the  paper  is  sent 
to  the  government.  No  notice  is  afterward  taken  of  such  a 
deed.  It  is  looked  upon  as  a  dangerous  profession,  and  they 
know  the  risk,  but  they  are  generally  well  paid.  Daimios 
use  them  also.  Mito  had  a  man  in  1862  in  the  employ  of 
Ikeda,  then  governor  of  Yedo.  He  watched  his  master 
intriguing  against  his  lord,  and  assassinated  him.  An  offi- 
cer was  long  in  the  employ  of  the  British  consulate  at 
Yokohama  who  was  in  constant  communication  with  the 
government. 

There  are  officers,  keepers  of  the  stairs  of  the  castle,  and 
others  who  look  after  the  fires  and  fireplaces. 

Bowozu  are  young  men  who  act  as  servants  to  guests  or 
officers  residing  in  the  castle.  It  is  not  permitted  to  Daimios 
to  bring  their  servants  into  the  palace.  They  are  waited  on 
by  the  Bowozu.  These  men  are  said  to  be  open  to  giving  up 
to  any  one  copies  of  any  or  all  documents  passing  through 
the  government  offices  on  payment  of  a  small  sum — 30  to 
50  itzaboos  per  annum. 

Officers  are  appointed  for  keeping  the  time  by  striking  a 
large  drum,  and  there  are  men  who  give  signals  by  blowing 
a  shell,  such  as  is  used  generally  for  directing  movements  in 
warlike  operations. 

Yoshiba  boonio. — Yoshiba  is  the  name  of  a  penal  estab- 
lishment on  the  island  of  Tsukudajima,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Yedo  River,  to  which  certain  criminals  are  sent,  to  prepare 
oil  and  charcoal. 

The  above  list  comprises  all  the  officers  engaged  in  the 
service  of  the  Shiogoon,  and  who  may  be  considered  govern- 
ment officials  conducting  the  business  of  their  departments  in 
offices  in  Yedo.  But  as  the  office  of  Shiogoon  is  in  abeyance 
it  remains  to  be  seen  in  what  manner  the  government  is  to  be 
hereafter  carried  on ;  and  whether  the  court  of  Miako,  which 
is  now  temporarily  removed  to  Yedo,  will  return  to  the  older 
titles  and  offices  as  known  at  Miako,  or  will  adopt  the  forms 
and  offices  which  have  been  in  use  at  the  court  of  the  Shio- 
goon in  Yedo. 


262  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

The  Hio  jo  shio — The  Board  of  Deliberation. — This  is  a 
large  place  of  meeting  for  deliberation  in  Yedo,  outside  of 
the  palace-moat,  and  close  to  the  residences  of  the  Gorochiu. 
On  fixed  days  of  every  month  certain  officers  sit  here  for 
the  discharge  of  their  duties.  These  seem  to  be  to  receive 
complaints  against  officers,  and  to  decide  cases  brought  be- 
fore them  for  judgment.  Upon  other  fixed  days,  all  Daimios 
or  Hattamoto  upon  duty  in  Yedo  seem  to  have  the  right,  or 
are  called  upon  as  a  duty,  to  meet  for  the  discussion  of  polit- 
ical matters  laid  before  them.  Hio  jo  means  to  deliberate  or 
hold  a  consultation ;  and  at  these  times  the  Gorochiu,  Waka- 
doshi  yori,  Owo  me  tski,  and  other  officers,  meet  here  for 
deliberation  upon  affairs  affecting  the  government. 

Within  the  palace  Daimios  meet  in  rooms  according  to 
their  rank,  and  the  class  of  Daimios  is  often  spoken  of  by 
the  name  of  the  room  in  the  palace  in  which  it  meets — as 
the  Obee  ro  ma,  the  Tomari  no  ma,  the  Yanangi  no  ma,  the 
Gan  no  ma,  the  Kiri  no  ma,  the  Tay  kan  no  ma,  the  Fuyo 
no  ma,  or  the  Goyobeya,  or  the  Siro  jo  in  (or  Kuro  jo  in), 
in  which  last  all  classes  seem  on  occasions  to  meet.  But  it 
is  only  in  rare  cases  that  all  are  called  together;  such  an  oc- 
casion was  the  proposal  brought  before  them  by  Commodore 
Perry  to  overturn  the  old  laws  and  throw  open  the  country. 
It  has  been  seen  that  lyeyas  in  his  laws  thought  the  meeting 
of  this  assembly,  the  Hio  jo  sho,  very  important,  and  he  said 
that  the  president  must  be  a  man  of  the  clearest  intellect  and 
best  disposition,  and  that  once  in  every  month  it  should  be 
the  duty  of  the  Shiogoon  to  go  to  the  assembly  without  pre- 
vious intimation,  and  there  act  as  judge. 

Immediately  in  front  of  the  building  stands  a  box,  known 
as  the  Mayassu  hako.  Into  this  box  anjr  one  may  put  a 
paper  of  complaint  upon  any  subject  which  he  wishes  to 
bring  before  the  assembly.  These  papers,  ''Mayassu,"  are 
taken  out  and  examined,  and  those  which  are  signed  are  dis- 
cussed, those  which  have  no  signature  are  burned.  There 
are  similar  boxes  at  Miako  and  Osaka. 

The  following  may  be  taken  as  a  sketch,  or  very  im- 


THE  DAIMIOS.  263 

perfect  translation,   of  the  matters  which  come  under  the 
cognizance  of  the  assembly  as  instructions  to  officers : 

1.  When  a  complaint  is  made  with  reference  to  ground 
in  a  street  in  front  of,  and  generally  belonging  to,  a  temple, 
and  which  is  frequently  let  as  shops,  etc. ;  or  in  reference 
to  Go  rio,  ground  belonging  to  the  Shiogoon;  or  Shi  rio, 
ground  belonging  to  Daimios — these  complaints  are  not  to 
be  taken  up  by   the    board,   but    are  to  be  referred  to  the 
Tskiban  (the  temple  lord  who  is  sitting  for  the  month). 

2.  All  quarrels  and  complaints  between  and  against  Yedo 
street  people,  citizens  of  Yedo,  are  to  be  referred  to  the  gov- 
ernor of  Yedo. 

3.  In  the  Kwang  hasshiu,  or  eight  provinces  immediately 
around  Yedo — Awa,  Kadsusa,  Simosa,  Hitatse,  Simoisuki, 
Kowotsuki,  Segami  and  Musasi — disputes  between  the  ten- 
ants of  the  Shiogoon  and  those  of  Daimios  or  Dai  kangs  are 
to  be  referred  to  the  treasury  governor.     These  three  gov- 
ernors are  known  as  the  "San  boonio." 

4.  Proceedings  as  to  disputes   between   Daimios  as  to 
ground. 

5.  Between  brothers  as    to   succession    to  the   father's 
property. 

6.  In  the  case  of  a  demand  for  a  new  trial  after  a  de- 
cision has  been  given. 

7.  In  regard  to  petitions  from  friends  to  let  a  prisoner 
out  of  confinement  on  the  ground  of  his  innocence,  must 
have  good  reasons  shown. 

8.  If  the  people  want  an  alteration  or  change  of  a  law. 

9.  What  is  to  be  done  with  papers,  Hakko  so,  put  into 
the  box. 

10.  If  people  complain  of  officers. 

11.  In  a  complaint  of  an  improper  judgment  in  a  case 
(perhaps  in  another  court). 

12.  Business  in  the  Hio  jo  shio.     The  2d,  llth  and  21st 
days  of  the  month  are  "Siki  jits,"  or  days  when  public  polit- 
ical business  is  discussed.     The  4th,  13th  and  25th,  "Tatchi 
yeibi,"  the  officers  meet  as  judges  to  decide  cases.     On  the 


264  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

6th,  18th  and  27th,  "Uchi  yori  yeibi,"  secret  meeting  days, 
the  officers  meet  to  examine  and  discuss  secret  political  mat- 
ters among  themselves. 

13.  The  form  to  be  followed  when  a  case  has  been  for  a 
long  time  before  the  Hio  jo  shio  and  is  referred  to  another 
judge,  as  the  street  governor;  and  what  is  to  be  done  in  ref- 
erence to  complaints  against  the  Gorochiu,  Wakatoshiyori, 
or  Owometski. 

14.  Complaints  against  Yakunins,  or  officers  on  duty  out- 
side of  Yedo,  are  to  be  referred  to  the  Shiogoon. 

15.  Disputes  as  to  water  for  irrigation,  and  embankments 
of  rice  fields,  which  are  sources  of  frequent  quarrels,  are  to 
be  taken  up  by  the  Hio  jo  shio. 

16.  In  disputes  as  to  boundaries  of  property,  the  old  titles 
in  the  hands  of  the  disputants  are  to  be  examined,  and  com- 
pared with  the  "Midzu  cho"  (water  book,  or  register),  kept 
in  the  Daikang  office  for  the  registration  of  boundaries  and 
property. 

17.  In  disputes  as  to  land,  to  apply  to  the  proper  office  to 
have  surveys  made. 

18.  What  is  to  be  done  in  cases  of  forgery  of  title-deeds 
of  lands,  or  of  maps  of  villages,  islands,  etc.,  which  is  a 
common  offense. 

19.  As  to  disputes  between  Kanushi,  heads  of  temples 
and  of  government  temples. 

20.  In  cases  where  application  is  made  by  the  friends  of 
a  criminal  to  have  him  pardoned,  such  is  not  to  be  enter- 
tained in  cases  of  arson,  theft,  murder,  either  as  principal  or 
accomplice,  striker  of  father  or  mother  or  master,  gamblers, 
head  men  of  villages  convicted  of  extorting  money,  mikassa 
(literally  three  hats),*  and  men  who  have  bought  young 
girls  secretly.     These  crimes  are  not  to  be  pardoned. 

*  A  gambling  game  analogous  to  the  "white-pigeon  card" 
of  China  (Pak  kop  piu),  at  which  much  money  is  lost  by 
families.  A  head  office  issues  papers  upon  which  the  eighty 
first  characters  of  the  "Thousand  Characters  Classic"  are 


THE  DAIMIOS.  265 

21.  As  to  arbitrations  ordered  by  officers,  only  a  certain 
number  of  days  to  be  allowed  to  make  such  arbitration — the 
office  to  settle  .how  many. 

22.  When  a  petition  has  been  presented  by  one  party  and 
the  other  does  not  appear,  what  is  to  be  the  proceeding. 

23.  Accusations  of  theft  and  fire-raising  are  not  to  be 
brought  before  the  Hio  jo  shio,  but  before  the  officer  in 
whose  jurisdiction  the  offense  is  committed. 

24.  In  cases  of  discovery  of  a  long  antecedently  com- 
mitted murder. 

25.  If  a  man  destroys  a  summons  issued  by  the  office, 
and  refuses  to  obey  it. 

26.  Cases  of  persons  trying  to  pass  the  barriers  at  Hako- 
nay  and  Arai,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  officers  sta- 
tioned at  the  barriers. 

27.  In  a  case  of  firing  a  pistol  or  gun  at  another  without 
killing,  the  punishment  is  "chiu  tsui  ho" — i.e.,  the  culprit  is 
not  allowed  to  enter  a  town  or  village.     If  a  man  wishes  to 
shoot  or  sport  near  Yedo,  he  must  get  a  license  from  the 
Yakunins  to  do  so  within  the  ten  ri  between  Hatch  ogee 
and  Kanagawa  upon  the  Tama  River.     Native  sportsmen 
frequently  shoot. 

28.  How  persons  are  to  be  dealt  with  for  snaring  birds, 
or  ferce  naturae,  on  the  hunting-lands  of  the  Shiogoon. 

29.  In  towns,  if  a  man  have  committed  a  small  offense, 
the  Yakunins  may  order  his  door  to  be  shut  upon  him,  and 
him  to  be  confined  in  his  own  house. 

30.  Cases  of  embezzlement  of  money  by  village  head  men. 

31.  Punishment  for  a  man  who  has  failed  to  enroll  his 
name  in  the  official  register. 

32.  If  a  man  offer  a  bribe  to  an  officer  he  is  to  be  se- 


printed  in  rows.  These  may  be  purchased  for  any  price  the 
purchaser  chooses  to  lay  upon  them.  During  the  night  ten 
characters  are  marked  by  the  office.  The  purchaser  marks 
ten,  and  speculates  upon  his  hitting  some  or  all  of  the  same 
as  were  marked  at  the  office. 

12 


266  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

verely  punished ;  the  officer,  if  he  accepts  it,  is  lightly  dealt 
with. 

33.  All  the  property  of  a  person  convicted  of  theft  or 
robbery  is  to  be  confiscated. 

34.  If  the  people  on  a  Daimio's  territory  send  a  remon- 
strance against  his  oppression  to  the  Hio  ko  shio,  what  is  to 
be  done  with  it. 

35.  All  the  goods  belonging  to  a  debtor  may  be  sold  to 
pay  his  debts,  except  his  wearing  apparel. 

36.  If  persons  try  to  bring  wild  ground  into  cultivation, 
and  call  it  their  own  without  informing  the  officers,  what 
proceedings  are  to  be  taken. 

37.  Cases  of  litigation  as  to  rented  ground. 

38.  When  persons  are  unable,  from  poverty,  to  pay  gov- 
ernment taxes  upon  ground  occupied  by  them. 

39.  In  regard  to  loans  of  money,  of  which  twenty  differ- 
ent kinds  are  alluded  to — to  a  friend,  to  a  temple,  etc. 

40.  If  the  whole  of  a  loan  cannot  be  repaid,  and  it  is 
referred  to  the  officers,  they  are  to  settle  the  interest  to  be 
paid.     Upon  large  amounts  the  interest  is  placed  low,  upon 
small  amounts  it  is  high.     Upon  10,000  cobangs  the  rate 
will  be  80  cobangs  per  month,  or  nearly  10  per  cent  per 
annum.     Upon  one  boo  it  may  be  one  tenpo  a  month,  or  75 
per  cent  per  annum. 

41.  In  borrowing  money,  the  interest  is  to  vary  with  the 
security.     If  the  security  is  land,  the  interest  is  to  be  low ; 
with  any  other  securities  the  interest  should  be  high. 

42.  In  disputes  as  to  money :  If  no  witnesses  are  brought 
forward ;  if  partners  in  business  quarrel ;  if  persons  in  thea- 
ters quarrel ;  if  a  collector  uses  subscriptions  to  temples  for 
his  own  purposes;   if  the  evidence  depends  upon  a  paper 
without  a  date;  if  no  rate  of  interest  is  mentioned — then 
these  cases  are  not  to  be  taken  up. 

43.  If  it  is  alleged  that  a  Daimio  has  borrowed  money 
from  some  town  or  body  of  people,  and  they  do  not  bring 
forward  a  receipt,  such  is  to  be  dismissed. 

44.  If  one  creditor  refuses  to  have  a  composition. 


THE  DAIMIOS.  267 

45.  The  officers  may  settle  the  time  to  be  allowed  to  pay 
off  a  debt,  after  which  the  securities  may  be  taken.     For 
1,000  cobangs,  12  months  to  be  allowed;  for  30  cobangs,  40 
days. 

46.  When  property  already  mortgaged  is  given  in  se- 
curity. 

47.  In  cases  where  the  cargo  of  a  ship  is  secretly  sold 
upon  her  passage,  and  a  story  of  bad  weather  is  told. 

48.  When  a  father  has  sealed  a  draft  of  his  intended  will, 
and  has  not  written  it  out,  what  is  the  position  of  the  heirs. 

49.  When  false  witnesses  are  suborned. 

50.  Houses  or  ground  are  sometimes  sold  by  relatives 
when  the  heir  is  young.     It  is  therefore  criminal  to  buy 
ground  without  giving  intimation  to  the  proper  officer. 

51.  It  is  the  custom  to  have  guarantees  for  servants,  to 
whom  wages  are  generally  paid  in  advance.     If  the  servant 
runs  away  with  his  wages,  his  surety  must  pay  for  him. 

52.  Half-yearly  engagements  with  servants  at  the  third 
and  ninth  month  are  usual.     If  a  servant  runs  away  before 
his  time  is  out,  his  surety  is  responsible. 

53.  If  it  is  another  servant  that  is  surety,   he  is  re- 
sponsible. 

54.  When  a  Daimio's  servant  runs  away,  what  is  to  be 
done. 

55.  It  is  usual  to  have  ten  sureties — how  this  is  to  be 
settled.     Not  more  than  ten  to  be  allowed. 

56.  If  a  runaway  servant  steals  from  his  master. 

57.  If  a  man  stays  away  from  his  wife  for  ten  months  she 
may  marry  again.     When  he  returns  he  is  to  be  punished. 

58.  If  a  poor  man  secretly  marries  and  has  a  child,  and 
exposes  it  on  the  street,  or  if  another  man  buys  it  and  ex- 
poses it,  either  shall  be  speared  or  beheaded.     The  head  man 
of  the  street  is  to  be  fined  and  deported  from  Yedo,  and  the 
Gonin  gumi  or  police  guard  of  the  street  are  to  be  punished. 

The  headman  of  a  village  or  block  of  streets  is  Nanushi; 
under  him  is  lyaynushi.  The  Go  nin  gumi  are  five  police 
in  every  street,  who  are  appointed  and  paid  by  the  streets. 


'268  HISTORY  OF   JAPAN. 

Nanushi  often  have  much  power  and  become  wealthy, 
lyeyas  in  his  laws  tried  to  prevent  this,  as  it  is  in  too 
many  cases  the  result  of  oppression  and  bribery.  In  Yedo 
and  Osaka  the  government  appoints  the  Nanushi ;  in  Miako 
the  people  appoint  them.  The  Nanushi  of  a  village  is  gen- 
erally a  hereditary  office. 

59.  If  a  man  shall  have  adopted  a  daughter  and  then 
sells  her  to  the  government  stews  (Yosiwara),  he  is  to  be 
punished.      The   punishment  is  to  vary  according  to  the 
wealth  and  the  ability  of  the  offender  to  support  the  child. 

60.  If  any  one  secretly  sells  girls  for  prostitution  to  any 
one  but  the  Yosiwara,  he  is  liable  to  punishment. 

61.  If  a  man  sells  his  wife  to  the  Yosiwara  without  rea- 
son, he  is  to  be  beheaded.     But  if  the  wife  agrees  to  be  so 
sold,  and  they  are  very  poor,  they  may  make  such  an  ar- 
rangement.    It  was  formerly  the  custom  to  kill  a  wife  if  she 
was  unfaithful,  but  of  late  the  custom  has  been  to  dispose  of 
her  to  the  Yosiwara. 

62.  The  crime  of  adultery  is  to  be  punished  with  death 
(?  in  the  case  of  the  wife  only). 

63.  Men  and  women  who  commit  suicide  together  are 
not  to  receive  burial  like  men,  but  like  dogs.     If  they  at- 
tempt and  do  not  succeed,  they  are  to  be  exposed  on  the 
Nihon  bas  (bridge)  for  three  days,  and  then  made  beggars. 

64.  If  a  bozan  or  priest  commit  adultery,  he   shall  be 
beheaded.     In  cases  of  fornication,  if  it  be  the  head  priest, 
he-shall  be  transported  to  the  islands;  if  a  young  priest,  he 
shall  be  exposed  on  the  Nihon  bas  for  three  days.     (Some 
years  ago  one  hundred  and  seventy  young  priests  were  thus 
exposed  on  the  bridge  at  one  time  by  Midzu  no  Idzumi  no 
kami.) 

65.  In  cases  of  persons  professing  San  cho  ha  (three  birds) 
Foosjiu  (not  take),  Foossay  (not  give),  they  are  to  be  trans- 
ported.    What  these  may  mean  it  is  difficult  to  find  out ;  but 
possibly  they  are  names  for  some  form  of  religion,  either 
Christianity  or  Mohammedanism. 

66.  No  one  is  allowed  to  introduce  new  forms  of  religion 


THE  DAIMIOS.  269 

or  new  gods  into  the  country.     If  they  do  so,  they  are  to  be 
banished  from  villages. 

67.  In  cases  of  suicide  the  officers  must  be  informed.     If 
they  are  privately  buried  with  Buddhist  burial,  both  priests 
and  friends  shall  be  punished. 

68.  Mikassa,  Bakuji  and  Mujing,  different  kinds  of  gam- 
bling, are  to  be  severely  punished. 

69.  Slight  cases  of  theft  are  to  be  punished  by  flogging 
and  banishment  from  towns  and  villages.     In  more  serious 
cases  of  theft,  the  criminals  are  first  to  be  carried  through 
Yedo  publicly,  and  then  are  to  be  beheaded. 

70.  In    reference    to    buyers    and    receivers    of    stolen 
goods. 

71.  As  to  those  who  engage  in  a  trade  without  belonging 
to  one  of  the  guilds. 

72.  As  to  informers. 

73.  "What  steps  are  to  be  taken  as  to  persons  falling  down 
dead  in  the  streets. 

74.  As  to  things  lost. 

75.  As  to  accomplices,  or  persons  who  indirectly  assist 
criminals  to  escape. 

76.  Forgers  are  to  be  beheaded. 

77.  As  to  putters-up  of  seditious  placards  on  the  walls. 

78.  What  is  to  be  done  with  a  man  who  (as  is  sometimes 
done  in  Yedo),  on  meeting  a  respectable  man,  suddenly  ac- 
cuses him  of  striking  him,  or  says  he  is  married  to  his  daugh- 
ter, or  gets  up  some  story  to  extort  money  from  him. 

79.  In  cases  when  a  man  is  the  indirect  cause  of  loss  to 
another — as  by  coming  too  late,  and  so  loss  is  sustained. 
This  is  a  crime,  though  the  loss  may  be  small. 

80.  Men  who  give  false  statements  to  officers. 

81.  As  to  false  money,  poison,  false  medicines,  and  false 
weights. 

82.  As  to  setting  a  house  on  fire  by  mistake. 

83.  An  incendiary  is  to  be  burned  to  death. 

84.  A  reward  to  be  given  to  the  man  who  detects  him. 

85.  As  to  murder  of  different  kinds.     In  cases  of  acci- 


270  HISTORY    OF   JAPAN. 

dental  death,  a  fine  is  to  be  levied  on  the  homicide.  It  is 
said  to  be  a  common  custom  in  Japan  to  compound  for  crime 
by  paying  relatives  and  bribing  officers. 

86.  When  a  man  kills  another  in  self-defense. 

87.  If  a  man  kill  another  by  accident,  as  by  a  rifle-ball, 
he  is  to  be  transported;  but  if  it  is  done  in  a  military  school, 
he  is  not  punished.     If  a  working  man  kills  another  by  acci- 
dent, he  is  banished  from  towns  and  villages. 

88.  If  a  man  is  angry  with  another  for  marrying  a  girl 
he  is  in  love  with,  and  breaks  in  the  door  and  causes  a  dis- 
turbance. 

89.  If  a  man  is  drunk  and  angry,  and  breaks  some  article 
of  value,  the  punishment  is  to  be  light ;   but  if  several  are 
together,  they  are  to  be  punished  severely. 

90.  If,  when  drunk,  he  kills  a  man  by  accident,  he  is  not 
to  be  severely  punished. 

91.  If  a  man  recovers  from  sickness  and  refuses  to  pay 
his  doctor. 

92.  As  to  offenses  committed  by  mad  persons. 

93.  If  a  person  under  fifteen  years  of  age  commit  murder, 
transportation  is  the  punishment. 

94.  As  to  concealing  criminals. 

95.  As  to  proclamations  about  offenders. 

96.  The  officers  cannot  command  a  son  to  inform  on  or 
to  give  up  his  father  or  mother,  or  a  servant  his  master, 
or  a  younger  brother  his  elder. 

97.  In  some  cases  the  relatives  of  a  criminal  may  be  ar- 
rested and  confined,  but  this  Chinese  plan  is  not  commonly 
used  in  Japan. 

98.  Gowo  mong — examination  by  torture,  as  striking,  or 
pouring  water  down  the  throat. 

99.  As  to  escaping  from  banishment  on  the  islands,  or 
crimes  committed  during  banishment. 

100.  As  to  escaping  from  prison. 

101.  As  to  men  who  free  themselves  from  their  irons. 

102.  The  higher  rank  a  man  is  of,  the  more  serious  is  his 
crime. 


THE  DAIMIOS.  271 

103.  And,  vice  versa,  a  crime  is  to  be  considered  lighter 
in  a  man  of  low  degree. 

104.  As  to  criminals  who  have  been  banished  from  towns 
and  villages,  if  they  try  to  return. 

105.  If  he  is  ejected  a  second  time  he  is  marked,  and  if 
he  returns  a  third  time  he  is  beheaded.     These  marks  are 
broad  black  bands  across   the   arm.     The   different  towns 
(Yedo,  Miako,  Osaka,  and  Nagasaki)  have   different  ways 
of  marking. 

106.  If  any  one  shall  secretly  make  weights.     All  the 
weights  are  made  and  issued  by  government  in  Japan. 

107.  In  regard  to  the  keepers  of  the  street  gates  in  Yedo, 
if  one  shall  find  any  money  or  article  of  value  and  keep  it. 

108.  In  Yedo  it  is  the  custom  to  take  out  a  drunken  man, 
or  a  man  that  has  died  on  the  street,  and  lay  him  in  another. 
This  is  to  be  punished. 

109.  If  a  man  accused  of  a  serious  crime  should  die,  his 
body  is  to  be  preserved  in  salt. 

110.  In  reference  to  criminals  and  prisoners  in  bad  health. 
There  are  four  hospitals  for  criminals  in  Yedo. 

111.  A  criminal  whose  time  is  expired,   and  who  has 
neither  home  nor  friends,  is  to  be  put  to  work  in  Tsukuda- 
jima  for  one  thousand  days,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the 
profits  of  his  labor  are  to  be  given  him,  and  he  may  get  a 
street  gate  to  keep. 

112.  If  a  man  forces  a  girl  to  marry  him,  he  shall  be 
beheaded. 

113.  Rules  as  to  pawning  and  pawn-shops.     Pawn-shops 
charge  very  high  interest — about  ten  per  cent  a  month , 

114.  If  a  man  be  taken  ill  upon  the  Tokaido,  he  is  not  to 
be  sent  from  one  village  to  another,  but  is  to  be  kept,  and 
a  doctor  sent  for  to  attend  him. 

115.  If  a  man  who  has  no  right  to  do  so  shall  wear  two 
swords. 

116.  "What  is  to  be  done  to  squatters  upon  wild  ground, 
who  have  not  given  notice  to  the  officers  of  their  having 
done  so. 


272  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

117.  If  a  man  tries  to  conceal  or  prevent  the  confiscation 
of  his  ground. 

118.  When  the  son  of  a  criminal  of  high  rank  wishes  to 
shave  his  head  and  become  a  priest,  in  some  measure  to  save 
the  reputation  of  his  family,  he  is  to  inform  the  officers,  and 
make  arrangements  with  them. 

119.  In  reference  to  the  children  of  a  criminal,  a  differ- 
ence is  made  between  the  children  of  an  officer  and  a  common 
person. 

120.  All  villages  have  registers  and  plans  of  the  ground 
belonging  to  each,  and  to  the  families  of  the  villagers.     These 
are  sealed  and  kept  by  the  head  man  of  the  village  (nanushi), 
and  he  is  bound  to  let  any  one  inspect  the  registers.     If  he 
refuse,  and  complaint  is  made,  he  is  to  be  punished. 

121.  What  is  to  be  done  upon  their  liberation  with  crimi- 
nals who  have  been  confined  for  slight  offenses. 

122.  Different  kinds  of  punishment  for  different  offenses. 
Of  these  there  are  specified  forty-six. 

In  case  of  disputes  between  persons  belonging  to  the  four 
provinces  round  Miako,  Yamashiro,  Yamato,  Tanba,  and 
Owomi,  they  are  brought  before  the  street  governor  of 
Miako;  but  if  a  dispute  arises  between  a  person  living  in 
one  of  these  provinces  and  an  outsider,  the  case  is  brought 
to  Yedo.  Litigation  arising  in  the  provinces  of  Idzumi, 
Kawatchi,  Setsu,  and  Harima,  is  brought  before  the  gov- 
ernor of  Osaka. 

No  taxes  are  paid  in  Miako. 

If  a  murder  or  arson  be  committed  within  the  territory 
of  a  Daimio,  it  is  not  necessary  to  bring  the  case  to  Yedo. 

If  the  servants  of  a  Daimio  kill  the  servant  of  another 
Daimio  the  case  must  be  brought  before  the  Gorochiu. 

If  a  Daimio  has  no  island  or  place  fit  for  transportation, 
the  criminal's  relatives  are  bound  to  keep  him  in  confinement. 

The  above  is  a  sketch  of  the  cases  which  may  come  before 
the  criminal  department  of  the  Hio  jo  sho. 

Hio  jio  shio  russui  are  four  officers  who  have  charge  of 
the  building  when  not  used. 


THE   DAIMIOS.  273 

Ro  ban. — Keeper  of  the  prison  (roya).  The  execution- 
ground  is  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  prison,  under  a  wil- 
low-tree in  front  of  the  back  gate.  The  office  of  executioner 
seems  to  be  hereditary.  Kubikiri  Asayaymon  is  at  present 
the  executioner,  and  it  is  said  that  his  son  at  fourteen  could 
cut  off  a  head  at  a  blow.  The  prison  is  surrounded  by  a 
high  embankment,  to  prevent  fires  reaching  it.  If  a  fire 
occurs  within  the  building  the  prisoners  are  all  liberated, 
and  those  who  return  have  their  punishment  mitigated. 

Jowo  ro  sama. — These  are  female  officers.  They  are 
twelve  daughters  of  Koongays  in  Miakp,  who  reside  in  the 
palace  at  Yedo  to  superintend  all  the  females,  servants,  etc., 
and  to  look  after  their  manners  and  morals.  They  are  al- 
ways unmarried  while  in  office,  but  sometimes  marry  Dai- 
mios.  They  generally  come  to  the  palace  young,  and  are 
instructed  there  in  their  duties.  They  have  the  opportunity 
of  having  great  power,  being  at  liberty  to  write  to  Miako 
about  anything  they  may  deem  improper  either  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  ladies,  women,  or  men  of  the  court  of  Yedo,  or 
of  the  Shiogoon  himself. 

Officers  employed  in  situations  at  a  distance  from  Yedo. 
— There  are  six  main  roads  or  entrances  to  Miako ;  over  each 
of  these  the  Shiogoon  places  a  guard  under  a  Daimio,  main- 
taining in  addition  a  guard  in  the  city  itself.  With  the  Sho 
shi  dai  there  are  nine  Daimios  resident  in  Miako. 

Shoshidai. — This  is  the  representative  of  the  Shiogoon  at 
the  court  of  Miako.  It  is  an  office  requiring  much  tact  and 
independence  of  character.  Formerly  it  was  held  by  one  of 
the  more  powerful  Daimios,  but  it  was  found  that  the  tend- 
ency to  be  won  over  to  the  party  of  the  Emperor  was  great, 
and  it  is  now  generally  intrusted  to  a  Fudai.  His  duty  is 
to  act  as  a  go-between  or  embassador  to  the  imperial  court, 
and  at  the  same  time  report  to  Yedo  all  changes.  He  does 
not  address  himself  personally  to  the  Emperor,  or  even  to 
the  Kwanbakku,  but  to  the  Tenso,  the  officer  deputed  for 
that  purpose,  and  who  in  turn  is  at  times  sent  to  Yedo  as 
envoy  from  the  Emperor.  The  office  is  one  which  entails 


274  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

great  expenditure,  but  it  is  one  in  which  personal  influence 
may  be  largely  used  for  the  furtherance  of  intrigue  and  the 
acquisition  of  power.  When  Sakai  was  made  Shoshidai, 
the  Shiogoon  gave  him  an  addition  to  his  income  of  10,000 
koku  per  annum.  He  fell  into  disgrace  with  the  Emperor, 
and  committed  suicide  in  1862.  The  Emperor  accused  him 
of  telling  him  falsehoods,  while  Sakai  did  not  know  that  the 
accounts  furnished  him  were  not  true.  Had  he  not  com- 
mitted suicide,  his  property  would  have  been  taken  from 
his  son.  His  father  committed  suicide  also  as  Shoshidai 
at  Miako  in  the  time  of  Kokaku,  grandfather  of  the  present 
Emperor. 

Miako  matchi  boonio. — Two  officers,  governors  of  Miako, 
under  the  Shiogoon,  whose  duties  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
governor  of  Yedo. 

Kinri  tsuki. — Two  officers  who  act  as  messengers  between 
the  imperial  officers  and  the  Shoshidai. 

Nijio  dzei  ban. — The  castle  of  the  Shiogoon  hi  Miako  is 
called  Nijio.  Two  Daimios,  and  men  under  them,  are  ap- 
pointed guards  or  governors  of  the  castle. 

There  is  a  keeper  of  the  storehouses  in  Miako  belonging 
to  the  Shiogoon ;  also  a  keeper  of  the  weapons  of  war,  guns, 
great  and  small,  and  an  officer  who  superintends  the  boats 
on  the  Yodongawa,  the  river  running  past  Miako,  to  give 
out  licenses  and  receive  the  payment. 

Fushimi  boonio. — A  Daimio,  governor  of  the  town  of 
Fushimi,  near  Miako.  Here  Taikosama  resided,  and  built 
the  costly  palace  which  was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake. 
All  Daimios  have  or  had  residences  at  Fushimi. 

Osaka  jiodai. — Governor  of  the  town  of  Osaka. 

Jiobang. — Keeper  or  warden  of  the  castle  of  Osaka,  built 
by  Taikosama. 

Dzeibang. — Captains  of  the  guards  in  that  castle.  Two 
Daimios  take  this  duty. 

Kabang. — Four  Daimios.  These  three  last  officers  are 
all  together  keepers  of  the  castle  of  Osaka. 

Osaka  matchi  boonio  is  street  governor  of  Osaka. 


THE    DAIMIOS.  275 

Funate  is  head  officer  over  the  boats  and  boatmen. 

Kohoo,  or  Kofu. — The  capital  town  of  Kahi  province,  or 
Koshiu,  where  the  Shiogoon  has  a  large  castle,  built  by  Ta- 
keda  Singeng.  Hattamoto  that  have  fallen  into  the  black 
books  of  the  government  for  vicious  conduct,  or  immorality, 
drinking,  etc.,  are  sent  to  this  castle.  Sometimes  as  many 
as  500  Hattamoto  are  there  in  a  sort  of  arrest,  under  surveil- 
lance before  being  again  employed. 

Nagasaki  boonio. — Governors  of  Nagasaki,  of  whom  there 
are  two,  and  two  Daikangs  to  look  after  the  lands  belonging 
to  the  Shiogoon.  Nagasaki  and  the  land  in  the  vicinity  and 
the  island  of  Amakusa  belong  to  the  Shiogoon. 

Narra  boonio.  — Governor  of  Narra,  the  ancient  and  eccle- 
siastical capital  of  Japan,  a  short  distance  from  Miako. 

Soonpu  (Suruga  no  fu)  is  the  castle  of  Suruga,  built  by 
Imangawa,  and  occupied  by  lyeyas  some  years  before  his 
death,  and  afterward  occupied  by  the  ex-Shiogoon,  Yoshi 
hissa.  There  is  a  governor  of  the  town  and  castle.  At  one 
time  the  treasury  of  the  Shiogoon  was  kept  at  Soonpu. 

Suruga  kabang. — One  military  Daimio.  One  of  the 
Shiogoon's  physic  gardens  for  medicinal  herbs  is  at  Soonpu, 
in  charge  of  an  officer. 

Kowo  no  san. — Tombs  of  some  of  the  early  predecessors 
of  the  Shiogoon.  lyeyas  was  buried  at  Nikko,  in  Simotsuki, 
a  day's  journey  north  of  Yedo.  There  is  an  officer  in  charge 
of  the  tombs  at  both  places ;  where  there  are  also,  as  officers, 
a  keeper  of  accounts  and  a  gatekeeper.  In  the  province  of 
Isse,  at  the  great  temple  there,  the  Shiogoon  is  represented 
by  an  officer,  Yamada  boonio.  Over  the  town  of  Sakkai, 
near  Osaka,  is  a  governor. 

Ooraga  boonio. — The  "gate" 'or  seaport  of  Yedo  below 
Kanagawa,  in  the  bay  of  Yedo,  has  two  governors.  At 
Ooraga  all  junks  and  boats  are  examined  by  custom-house 
officials. 

Sado  boonio. — Two  governors  of  the  island  of  Sado, 
where  are  the  gold  mines. 

Neegata  boonio. — One  governor  of  the  town.     This  port 


276  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

formerly  belonged  to  a  Daimio,  Makino  Bizen  no  kami,  but 
about  the  year  1840  the  Shiogoon  displaced  him,  and  gave 
him  Nangaoka,  in  Etsingo,  in  place  of  Neegata.  It  was 
alleged  that  an  illicit  trade  was  being  carried  on  between 
Corea  and  this  port,  and  also  with  the  Dutch.  It  is  said  to 
be  a  fine  harbor,  and  was  one  of  the  ports  opened  to  foreign 
trade  by  treaty;  but  the  harbor  was  found,  or  supposed  to 
be,  too  shallow  for  large  ships.  It  has  fallen  off  consid- 
erably in  trade  and  wealth  since  government  took  posses- 
sion of  it. 

Nikko  boonio. — At  Nikko  Hill  is  buried  To  sho  goo,  or 
lyeyas,  the  first  of  the  dynasty,  and  a  fine  temple  (Chiu 
senji)  is  erected  near  the  tomb.  The  actual  tombs  of  heroes 
and  great  men  in  Japan,  as  has  been  said,  seem  to  be  gen- 
erally very  modest  and  unassuming  memorials.  From  the 
roof  of  the  temple  at  Nikko  is  hung  a  large  chandelier  pre- 
sented by  the  Dutch.  The  Shiogoons  after  lyeyas  are  buried, 
some  at  the  Shibba,  a  temple  in  Yedo,  some  at  Ooyayno 
or  Toyay  san,  another  large  temple  in  Yedo;  others  at 
Kowono  san ;  and  at  Zozoji,  in  Yedo. 

Gai  koku  boonio. — Ministers  for  foreign  nations.  These 
officers  were  appointed  in  consequence  of  the  opening  of  the 
country,  and  their  duty  is  to  communicate  with  the  consuls 
or  ministers  of  foreign  nations  on  international  questions, 
or  matters  connected  with  trade.  They  are  Hattamoto  of 
rental  varying  from  150  to  3,000  koku  per  annum. 

Kanagawa  boonio. — There  are  two  Hattamoto,  govern- 
ors of  this  village,  now  risen  into  importance.  The  one  is 
a  man  of  5,000  koku,  the  other  of  1,200. 

Seki  sho. — In  the  different  provinces  of  Japan  there  are 
passes  upon  the  roads,  wherfe,  by  reason  of  the  surrounding 
hills,  the  road  may  be  easily  defended  by  a  small  force. 
These  are  considered  the  keys  of  the  country,  and  at  each 
place  barriers  (seki)  are  erected  and  guards  appointed. 
These  are  important  from  a  military  point  of  view. 

In  the  province  of  Segami  there  are  six  seki  or  barriers. 
Okubo  kanga  no  kami,  Daimio  at  Odawarra,  has  charge  of 


THE  DAIMIOS.  277 

them.  They  are — Hakonay  upon  the  Tokaido,  Neboo  kawa, 
Yangura  sawa,  Sengo  ku  bara,  Kawa  mura,  Tanega  mura. 

In  the  province  of  Towotomi  there  are  three  gates — 
Imangiri,  Aral  and  Kenga. 

In  Kowotsuki  are  fourteen  barriers — Fkushima,  Go  shina, 
Owo  watari  and  another,  Oossui,  Yoko-ngawa,  Koori,  Ka- 
wa mata,  Sarunga  harra,  Owo  sassa,  Dai-ito,  Kari  jigu, 
Minami  maki,  Tokura. 

In  Etsingo  province  are  five  barriers — Itchi  foori,  Hatch! 
dzaki,  Seki  ngawa,  Mooshi  kawa,  Yama  ngootchi. 

In  the  province  of  Sinano  six — Kiu  oochi  ji,  Nami  ai,  Obi 
kawa,  Ono  ngawa,  Fkushima,  Ni  engawa. 

In  the  province  of  Simosa  four — Seki  yado,  Matsudo, 
Fusa  kawa,  Nakatta. 

In  the  province  of  Musashi  four — Kobo  toki,  Ko  iwa, 
Itchi  kawa,  Kana  matchi. 

In  the  province  of  Owomi  three — Yama  naka,  Yana 
ngassay,  and  another. 

At  these  barriers  no  woman  is  allowed  to  pass  without  a 
passport  from  the  governor  of  Yedo.  No  Daimio  is  allowed 
to  bring  cannon  or  muskets  past  a  barrier  without  permis- 
sion. Guards  are  stationed  at  each,  to  examine  every  young 
person  as  to  their  sex.  This  is  done  in  order  to  keep  the 
wives  and  families  of  Daimios  at  Yedo. 

In  Sinano  province  there  are  large  forests,  the  property 
of  government,  on  the  Kisso  hills,  under  charge  of  a  Hatta- 
inoto. 

Koondai  (Kiun  tai)  is  an  officer  who  has  the  superintend- 
ence of  all  the  Shiogoon's  land  in  the  different  provinces  in 
which  it  lies.  One  officer  has  generally  the  lands  in  two  or 
more  provinces  under  his  care. 

Dai  kwan  are  smaller  and  lower  offices,  with  duties  simi- 
lar to  and  under  the  Koondai.  They  look  after  the  ground 
and  crops  on  the  ground  belonging  to  government.  They 
calculate  the  amount  payable  by  rice-fields.  To  ascertain 
this  they  frequently  cut  a  tsubo  (six  feet  square)  dry,  and 
thrash  it,  and  calculate  the  product  of  the  whole  field  there- 


278  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

from.  They  receive  the  rents,  make  leases,  and  act  as  fac- 
tors on  government  lands.  There  are  thirty-seven  Dai  kwan. 

The  Officers  of  the  Mint. — The  mint  in  Yedo  is  in  Drio 
ngai  tcho.  It  is  under  the  superintendence  of  the  treasury 
governor.  There  is  the  Kinsa,  or  the  department  where  gold 
is  coined ;  and  the  ginsa,  the  mint  for  silver  coins.  Deposits 
of  silver  and  gold  are  found  in  several  parts  of  Japan,  but 
the  most  of  the  gold  used  by  government  comes  from  the 
island  of  Sado;  the  silver  is  brought  from  Ikoo  no  gin  sa 
in  Tajima,  and  from  Iwami  province.  In  some  of  the  terri- 
tories of  Daimios  there  are  large  quantities  extracted,  as  in 
the  lands  of  Satsuma  and  Sendai.  The  latter  has  the  right 
of  coining  money,  but  the  coin  seems  to  circulate  only  within 
his  own  territory.  Silver  and  gold,  as  bullion,  are  much 
cheaper  relatively  to  coin  than  in  almost  any  other  country : 
this  arises  probably  from  that  peculiarity  in  the  laws  and 
customs  of  Japan — the  Tokusayay,  previously  mentioned — 
which  prevents  the  natives  using  either  metal  as  ornaments, 
or  in  any  useful  way.  A  good  deal  of  gold  must  be  used  in 
the  manufacture  and  ornamentation  of  the  lacquer-ware, 
which  is  sometimes  profusely  covered  with  gold ;  but,  except 
for  this  purpose,  there  is  little  or  none  used,  as  the  ladies  do 
not  wear  jewelry  of  any  kind — neither  earrings,  nor  rings, 
nor  brooches.  No  plate  is  used  at  their  dinners.  Owing  to 
this,  no  one  can  put  the  precious  metals,  if  they  have  any  in 
their  possession,  to  any  use,  and  the  owner,  in  order  to  real- 
ize their  value,  must  take  them  to  iihe  only  market,  which  is 
government.  The  government  thus  has  the  power  of  declar- 
ing what  value  it  will  put  upon  these  precious  metals,  and 
pays  accordingly  for  silver  bullion  thirty  per  cent  below  the 
value  which  is  afterward  put  upon  the  coin. 

Lastly,  among  the  establishments  kept  up  by  the  Shio- 
goon  is  the  Nishi  maro,  literally  the  west  round,  the  oldest 
part  of  the  shiro  of  Yedo.  It  was  built  by  Owota  do  Kwang, 
as  mentioned  before.  The  castle  is  surrounded  by  a  broad 
moat  filled  with  water.  On  the  inner  side  a  fine  steep  bank 
of  grass  slopes  up  from  the  water's  edge  to  such  a  height  as 


THE   DAIMIO   CLASS.  279 

entirely  to  conceal  the  interior.  The  water  is  brought  from  a 
considerable  distance — from  the  Tama  ngawa  River — being 
led  in  a  canal  known  as  Tama  ngawa  jo  sui.  This  was  made 
by  lyay  Mitzko,  the  second  after  lyeyas,  and  is  under  the  care 
of  the  Owometski  and  Kanjo  office.  The  Nishi  maro  is  in- 
tended for  the  occupation  of  the  child  or  children  of  the 
Shiogoon,  or  for  his  father  if  he  have  abdicated.  It  is  there- 
fore frequently  empty,  and  in  that  case  officers  have  charge 
of  the  building,  who  are  known  as  Nishi  maro  russui. 

"Within  the  circuit  of  the  castle  grounds  are  the  residences 
of  the  Gosankioh — the  three  princes,  Stotsbashi,  Tayass,  and 
Saymidzu. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  DAIMIO   CLASS 

IN  the  official  list  of  Daimios  published  at  Yedo  the  pedi- 
gree of  each  is  given;  the  family  name  and  descent;  the 
period  when  the  title  commenced ;  the  sons  and  daughters, 
with  the  names  of  their  wives  and  husbands;  where  his 
residence  in  Yedo  is  situated,  and  likewise  his  houses  in 
Miako,  Osaka  and  Fusimi;  the  date  of  his  accession  to  the 
title;  who  his  wife  is;  his  coats  of  arms,  of  which  each 
Daimio  has  two  or  more ;  the  presents  he  is  to  make  to  the 
Shiogoon  both  during  the  year  when  he  resides  in  Yedo  and 
during  that  when  he  resides  at  his  provincial  residence;  the 
presents  the  Shiogoon  makes  to  him  on  his  coming  to  Yedo ; 
how  his  communications  are  to  be  carried  on  with  the  Shio- 
goon and  Gorochiu ;  the  shape  and  color  of  the  leather  cov- 
ering of  his  official  spears  carried  before  him,  as  the  spear- 
points  are  always  carried  covered  with  leather ;  the  uniform 
or  livery  of  his  retainers ;  the  title  of  his  eldest  son ;  the 
names  and  titles  of  his  large  retainers,  or  Byshing ;  the  mat- 
toyay  or  solid  ensign  carried  in  his  train,  the  flag  he  car- 


280  HISTORY  OF   JAPAN. 

ries  on  his  ships,  and  the  large  mark  upon  his  sails;  the 
amount  of  his  territorial  income;  the  provinces  in  which 
his  property  lies;  the  distance  of  his  residence  from  Yedo; 
the  room  in  the  palace  of  the  Shiogoon  to  which  he  goes ;  the 
temple  in  which  he  is  buried. 

In  the  official  list  the  Daimios  are  classed  by  families 
(Kay),  from  many  of  which  families  there  are  cadets  or 
offshoots. 

At  the  head  of  the  Daimios  stand  the  San  Kay,  "three 
families,"  Owarri,  Kii,  and  Mito.  lyeyas  in  his  laws  calls 
the  two  first  from  their  cities,  Nagoya  and  Wakayama. 
There  are  four  provinces  from  which  two  Daimios  at  one 
time  are  not  permitted  to  take  a  title — Mootz,  Mikawa,  Mu- 
sashi  and  Etsigo.  No  Daimio  is  allowed  to  take  his  title 
of  Kami  from  any  of  the  three  provinces,  Kadsusa,  Hitatsi, 
or  Kowotsuki — they  are  reserved  for  the  imperial  family. 

Of  these  Daimios,  three  are  generally  known  as  greater 
Kokushu;  viz.,  1,  Kanga;  2,  Satsuma;  and,  3,  Sendai. 
Fourteen  are  called  lesser  Kokushu:  4,  Hosokawa;  5,  Ku- 
roda;  6,  AM;  7,  Nagato  Mowori;  8,  Hizen  Nabeshima;  9, 
Inaba  Ikeda;  10,  Bizen  Ikeda;  11,  Isse  no  Tzu,  Towodo; 
12,  Awa,  Hatchiska;  13,  Tosa  Yamano  ootchi;  14,  Sataki; 
15,  Arimain  Tsikugo;  16,  Nambu;  17,  Ooyay  Soongi.  Four 
are  new  Kokushu:  18,  Etsizen;  19,  Tsuyama;  20,  Idzumo; 
21,  Aidzu. 

This  list  comprehends  all  those  who  are  supposed  to  be 
capable  of  taking  an  active  share  in  the  government  of  Yedo, 
or  in  ruling  their  own  districts  in  the  interest  of  the  present 
dynasty  of  Shiogoons.*  When  from  any  cause,  such  as  age 
or  infirmity,  a  Daimio  is  incapacitated  from  attending  to  his 
duties  at  Yedo,  or  when  he  becomes  tired  of  the  trammels  of 
State  to  which  he  is  subjected,  he  may  abdicate,  and  hand 
over  the  dignities  or  the  more  irksome  part  of  the  duties 


*  The  dynasty  having  been  recently  set  aside,  the  country 
is  in  a  transition  state,  and  the  position  of  these  Daimios  in 
the  future  remains  to  be  worked  out. 


THE  DAIMIO   CLASS.  281 

of  office  to  his  son.  If  he  be  suspected  of  intriguing  against 
the  powers  of  the  State,  he  may  be  displaced,  and  the  title 
taken  from  him  and  given  to  some  relative,  or  any  one  to 
whom  the  Shiogoon  may  be  pleased  to  give  it.  It  seems  but 
rarely  that  any  steps  are  taken  against  the  person  of  a 
Daimio,  further  than  ordering  him  into  arrest  in  his  own 
house,  which  his  successor  is  often  too  glad  to  carry  into 
effect.  In  the  case  of  a  Daimio  being  accused  or  convicted 
of  any  great  crime,  he  may  offer  to  shave  his  head  and 
become  a  Buddhist  priest,  and  so  avoid  any  further  conse- 
quences. The  difficulty  of  seizing  a  man  of  rank  in  his  own 
territory  has  probably  led  to  these  compromises.  Therefore 
the  government  tries  to  act  through  the  interest  of  the  re- 
tainers to  obtain  submission  to  its  decrees.  And  it  is  only 
when  a  man  is  powerful  enough  and  wealthy  enough  (with 
personal  ability  to  boot,  as  in  the  case  of  Choshiu  in  1866)  to 
carry  on  war,  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  take  up  arms,  and 
then  nothing  short  of  civil  war  can  be  the  result. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  state  of  things,  there  is  a  large 
number  of  persons  in  Japan  who  have  been  Daimios,  but  who 
are  in  a  position,  real  or  nominal,  of  retirement  from  the 
world  and  its  cares.  These  are  the  fathers  or  brothers  or  rel- 
atives of  those  who  now  hold  the  title,  and  who  have  probably 
been  put  in  to  fill  the  position  on  account  of  their  tender  age. 
Many  no  doubt  thus  retire  of  their  own  free  will;  but  the 
disturbances  consequent  upon  Ee  Kamong  no  kami's  vigor- 
ous action  in  1857  forced  others  to  give  up  the  title  and 
place  in  order  to  save  them  for  their  family.  Others  have, 
for  the  same  object,  committed  suicide. 

Daimios  who  have  thus  retired  into  private  life  are  called 
Inkio  (Chin.,  "Yin  ku") — i.e.,  retired  into  privacy.  He  is 
thenceforth  known  generally  by  the  name  of  his  castle  or 
province,  with  the  word  for  "late"  or  "formerly,"  saki  no, 
prefixed  to  the  highest  title  which  he  bore. 

In  1862  there  were  104  of  these  Inkio  Daimios,  whose 
names  are  given  at  the  end  of  the  peerage,  and  of  whom  the 
following  are  most  prominent : 


HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

1.  Owarri,   saki  no  Chiunagoong. — This  is  the  Daimio 
who  was  degraded  by  the  regent. 

2.  Mimasaka,  saki  no  Chiujo. — This  is  the  thirty-fourth 
child  of  the  eleventh  Shiogoon,  and  known  as  Kakudo. 

3.  Akashi,  saki  no  Shosho,  is  also  a  son  of  the  Shiogoon, 
and  was  adopted  by  Matzdaira  Hiobu  no  tayu. 

4.  Ooajima,  saki  no  Shosho.     His  son  is  also  on  the  re- 
tired list. 

5.  Etsizen,  saki  no  Chiujo  Shoongaku.  —He  was  degraded 
by  the  regent,  but  was  restored,  and  afterward  became  re- 
gent or  Sosai. 

A  Buddhist  name  is  at  times  adopted  when  he  does  not 
wish  to  continue  to  bear  a  title. 

When  he  has  shaved  his  head  and  becomes  a  priest,  he 
is  called  Niudo;  i.e.,  entered  the  path  of  Buddha. 

Keng,  Sei,  Ang,  and  Eeng  are  Buddhist  titles  taken  by 
those  who  have  retired  from  the  world. 

The  Hattamoto — literally,  "the  root  or  foundation  of  the 
flag  or  army."— This  rank  was  formerly  called  Shiomio, 
" small  names,"  in  contradistinction  to  Daimio,  "great 
names."  The  Hattamoto  are  officers  of  the  Shiogoon's 
government,  who  in  rank  and  emoluments  come  next  to 
the  Daimios.  Hattamoto  are  eligible  to  fill  all  the  offices 
in  the  different  departments  of  the  Yedo  government  under 
the  Gorochiu  (to  which  Daimios  alone  are  appointed).  When 
it  is  wished  to  put  a  Hattamoto  into  the  Cabinet,  he  is  first 
given  by  the  Shiogoon  territory  equivalent  to  10,000  koku 
per  annum.  A  Hattamoto  may  be  described  as  an  officer 
of  the  government  in  the  possession  of  land  valued  from  500 
to  9,999  koku.  Officers  with  less  than  500  koku  are  below 
Hattamoto,  and  known  as  Go  kennin;  and  beneath  them 
are  Ko  jiu  nin.  Lower  still  are  the  account-keepers;  Oto 
torimi,  bird-keepers;  Okatchi,  spies  and  men  about  the 
kitchen;  and  Yoriki  and  Do  sin.  Hattamoto  are  generally 
of  the  fifth  rank,  or  Shodaibu,  and  never  of  the  fourth.  Some 
Hattamoto  have  titles  from  the  Emperor,  others  have  titles 
of  provinces,  as  Daimios  have,  but  those  who  have  any  titles 


THE   DAIM1O    CLASS.  283 

are  a  small  minority  of  the  whole  number.  Some  Hattamoto 
receive  titles  for  one  generation  only,  known  as  Itchi  dai 
Yoriai.  The  class  is  divided  into  large  and  small — the  for- 
mer having  from  3,000  to  under  10,000  koku  of  land;  the 
latter  from  500  to  3,000.  They  are  divided  into— 

1.  Kotai  Hattamoto,  or  those  who  go  to  Yedo  on  alternate 
years. 

2.  Yoriai. 

3.  Ogo  bang. — These  live  in  or  have  charge  of  a  castle, 
such  as  Kofu,  Soonpu,  etc. 

4.  Shingo  bang. — These  act  as  guards  to  the  Shiogoon 
in  Yedo. 

5.  O  niwa  bang. — These  are  keepers  of  the  gardens,  and 
are  generally  spies,  and  consequently  avoided  by  other  officers. 

Some  of  the  principal  families  of  Hattamoto  are  the 
following : 

Soonga  numa,  with  7,000  koku,  at  Shinshiro,  in  Mikawa 
province.  An  old  family,  proud  of  the  family  name. 

Matzdaira  Hissamatz  is  a  relative  of  Matzdaira  Oki  no 
kami,  related  to  the  Shiogoon 's  family,  and  uses  the  Awoee 
or  crest  of  the  Shiogoon,  with  6,000  koku;  lives  at  Izassa  in 
Shimosa. 

Takanoya  Matzdaira  is  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  Nitta 
family,  with  4,500  koku;  lives  at  Nishingori  in  Mikawa. 

Ikoma  Tokutaro  was,  in  the  time  of  Taikosama,  a  power- 
ful Daimio,  is  now  a  Hattamoto  with  8,000  koku,  living  at 
Yajima  in  Dewa. 

Yamano  Mondo  no  ske,  also  a  descendant  of  the  Nitta 
family;  was,  in  the  time  of  Ashikanga,  powerful,  with  6,700 
koku ;  resides  at  Mura  oka  in  Tajima,  is  considered  a  good 
family,  and,  as  related  to  the  Shiogoon,  has  special  privileges. 

Hirano.  — His  ancestor,  H.  Gonpe,  was  a  noted  warrior 
in  Taikosama's  time.  The  family  is  much  respected,  has 
5,000  koku,  and  lives  at  Sawara  moto  in  Yamato. 

Kinoshta. — Calls  himself  of  the  line  of  Taikosama,  with 
5,000  koku.  His  castle  is  Tateishi  in  Boongo. 

Yamazaki. — Formerly  a  powerful  family,  now  with  5,000 


284  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

koku,  resides  at  Nariwoo  in  Bitsjiu;  is  descended  from  the 
third  brother  of  Hatchimang  taro. 

Mongami,  lineally  descended  from  Ashikanga,  is  looked 
upon  as  a  Kokushiu ;  resides  at  Owomori  in  Owomi,  with  a 
revenue  of  5,000  koku. 

Kowotsuki,  at  Kowotsuki  in  Owomi,  with  4,700  koku, 
is  the  lineal  male  descendant  of  the  Ooda  Genji  line. 

Besides  these  Hattamoto,  there  are  Kotai  Yoriai,  who 
are  landed  proprietors  of  very  old  families,  but  who  are  as 
Tozama,  and  take  no  part  in  affairs,  such  as — 

Nassu,  a  very  old  family  in  Shimotsuki. 

Mikawa  shiu,  the  line  of  lyeyas's  family. 

Nakajima  Mayra  was  found  in  the  Mayra  district  in 
Kiusiu. 

There  are,  besides  these,  Hattamoto,  styled  Hira  Yoriai, 
with  revenues  from  below  10,000  koku  downward,  such  as — 

Minagawa,  with  9,000  koku. 

Seigo,  and  others. 

Kondo  nobori  no  ske,  with  5,400  koku,  who  is  looked 
upon  as  first  Hattamoto,  not  by  rank,  but  because  he  re- 
fused to  take  the  rank  of  Daimio  from  lyeyab  when  offered 
to  him. 

Koozai,  Foonayoshi. — These  two  are  very  wealthy.    They 
.  were  formerly  engaged  in  trade  with  the  Portuguese  in  the 
sixteenth  century. — And  many  others,  with  incomes  grad- 
ually decreasing  to  500  koku  per  annum. 

Hattamoto  officers  have  generally  been  employed  on  in- 
terviews with  foreign  embassadors,  or  as  embassadors  to 
foreign  courts  on  the  conclusion  of  treaties. 

Those  who  negotiated  the  treaty  with  Lord  Elgin  in  1858 
were — Midzuno  Tsikugo  no  kami,  a  low  Hattamoto.  He 
was  afterward  disgraced,  but  in  1862  was  appointed  gov- 
ernor of  Hakodadi,  and  looked  upon  as  a  shrewd,  wily  man. 
• — Nagai  Genba  no  kami  was  also  a  low  Hattamoto.  He 
was  also  disgraced  in  the  changes  which  followed,  but  in 
September,  1862,  was  appointed  Sa  kio,  or  street  governor 
of  Miako. — Inooyay  Sinano  no  kami  was  the  minister  for 


THE   DAIMIO    CLASS.  285 

naval  affairs — was  of  low  origin,  the  son  of  a  Gokennin.  He 
negotiated  the  treaty  with  Mr.  Harris,  United  States  Minis- 
ter. He  was  in  1862  made  a  governor  for  foreign  affairs.— 
Hori  Oribay  no  kami  was  considered  an  upright  man  and 
just  in  his  dealings.  After  the  part  he  took  in  signing  the 
treaty,  he  got  into  difficulties  with  Ando  and  Koozay  in  the 
Gorochiu,  and  committed  suicide. — Iwase  Higo  no  kami, 
a  low  Hattamoto,  a  very  cunning  man,  since  dead. — Isuda 
Hanzaburo  was  an  obscure  Gokennin. 

The  Dutch  treaty  was  signed  by  Nagai  Genba  no  kami ; 
Okabay  Suruga  no  kami,  a  low  Hattamoto ;  and  Iwase  Higo 
no  kami. 

The  Portuguese  treaty  was  signed  in  1860  by  Misono- 
gootchi  Sanuki  no  kami,  a  high  Hattamoto — he  was  ap- 
pointed in  1862  general  in  command  of  the  castle  of  Osaka; 
Sakkai  oki  no  kami,  a  Hattamoto  with  2,000  koku — he  is 
now  governor  of  the  exchequer  in  Yedo;  and  Matzdaira 
Djirobe — had  office  in  1862  in  the  castle  Kofu. 

The  embassadors  who  visited  Europe  were  of  the  rank 
of  Hattamoto:  Take  no  ootchi,  Simotski  no  kami,  and  oth- 
ers. The  embassies  were  accompanied  by  agents  from  the 
more  powerful  Daimios,  such  as  Satsuma,  Choshiu,  and 
others,  who  reported  their  observations  to  their  own  mas- 
ters. 

The  Kokay,  or  Kowokay,  as  has  been  before  stated,  is  a 
class  which  is  looked  upon  as  intermediate  in  rank  between 
Daimios  and  Koongays.  They  are  not  permitted  to  take 
part  in  the  affairs  of  government.  They  are  the  representa- 
tives of  old  families,  and  receive  pay  from  government.  The 
class  is  divided  into  Kimo  iri  kokay  and  Omotte  Kokay. 

Among  the  former  are  Hatake  yama.  His  ancestor  was 
a  partisan  of  Yoritomo;  his  tomb  is  at  Kamakura. — Toki, 
a  general  of  Ashikanga's  time. — Yura,  a  powerful  family 
in  the  time  of  Ashikanga. — Otta,  the  lineal  descendant  of 
Nobu  nanga. — Rokaku;  in  the  time  of  Yoritomo  known  as 
Sassaki. — Arima,  related  to  Arima,  the  Roman  Catholic. — 
Imagawa,  formerly  lord  of  Surunga,  and  builder  of  Soonpu 


286  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

castle;  defeated  by  lyeyas. — Takeda,  of  the  family  of  T. 
Singeng,  who  fought  against  lyeyas.     And  others. 

Of  the  Omotte  Kokay — There  are  Owotomo,  of  the  fam- 
ily of  Owotomo  Boongo  no  kami,  the  great  patron  of  the 
Jesuits  in  the  sixteenth  century.  At  one  time  a  very  pow 
erful  family,  possessing  the  greater  portion  of  the  island  of 
Kiusiu,  before  the  power  of  Satsuma  rose  to  a  height.  The 
fortunes  of  the  family  fell  with  those  of  the  Jesuits;  and  to 
the  league  formed  against  these  foreigners,  the  confiscation 
of  the  extensive  property  of  Owotomo  was  the  stimulus  to 
energy  and  the  reward  of  victory. — Ooyay  sungi  was  very 
powerful  in  the  province  of  Etsingo,  and  the  family  for  long 
held  the  office  of  Kwanrei  at  Kamakura.  The  direct  de- 
scendant of  the  Nitta  line  was  Jera  matz  manjiro.  He  was 
naturally  a  proud  man,  and  refused  to  come  to  Yedo  when 
lyeyas  invited  him,  and,  in  consequence,  he  lost  his  posi- 
tion; but  the  other  Daimios,  who  trace  their  origin  to  the 
same  source — the  Nitta  family — support  him  in  a  position 
equal  to  themselves. 

The  class  of  officers  next  below  the  Hattamoto  is  the 
Gokennin.  The  highest  income  they  receive  from  govern- 
ment is  less  than  500  koku  per  annum. 

Beneath  the  Gokennin,  officers  come  under  the  general 
classification  of  Yakunins  or  officials — literally,  "business 
men."  This  name  is  applied  to  the  lower  officers  employed 
by  the  Shiogoon — such  as  Kumi  gashira,  Shirabbe  yaku, 
Jo  yaku,  and  Shtabang.  There  are  no  Yakunins  in  Miako; 
there  the  Emperor's  sub-officials  are  called  Kwannin. 

Every  Yakunin  is  supposed  to  swear  that  he  will  do  what- 
ever, right  or  wrong,  he  is  ordered  to  do  by  his  government. 

It  is  not  permitted  to  Gokennin,  or  to  officials  of  lower 
rank,  to  ride  in  Yedo  or  upon  the  highroads ;  they  must  walk. 

Such  being  the  details  of  the  officers  under  the  Shiogoon, 
the  government  is  so  well  regulated  as  to  have  worked  with 
comparative  smoothness  for  250  years.  The  safeguards  and 
checks  which  were  devised  by  lyeyas  have  been  in  operation 
up  to  recent  times.  The  setting  apart  of  three  families  from 


THE   DAIMIO   CLASS.  287 

the  members  of  which  the  Shiogoon  might  be  chosen,  gives 
a  powerful  support  to  the  reigning  family.  The  designation 
of  four  families,  from  out  of  which  a  regent  might  be  ap- 
pointed, and  the  further  naming  of  thirteen  families  from 
out  of  which  the  Cabinet  was  advised  to  be  formed,  out  of 
the  broader  basis  of  135  Fudai  or  working  Daimios,  who 
were  generally  comparatively  poor,  gave  to  all  the  higher 
classes  a  consistency  of  interest  in  the  existing  state  of  things. 
Power  over  the  person  of  the  individual,  and  over  his  per- 
sonal power  of  mischief,  in  regard  to  the  more  powerful 
princes,  was  sought  to  be  obtained  by  the  detention  of  the 
wives  and  families  in  Yedo,  and  by  visiting  the  sins  of  an 
intriguing  prince,  not  upon  his  family  or  retainers,  but  upon 
himself  alone.  It  would  appear  that  when  the  Shiogoon  is 
of  age,  and  of  sufficient  capacity,  he  will  appoint  his  own 
ministers  out  of  the  different  families  named  by  lyeyas  to 
this  end.  It  is  to  the  interest  of  the  State  as  well  as  of  the 
Kokushiu  that  they  should  continue  unmolested  in  the  pos- 
session of  their  extensive  territories  and  jurisdiction;  and 
intrigues  are  prevented  as  far  as  possible  by  no  one  being 
allowed  to  visit  another  within  his  territories.  While  the 
power  which  the  government  held  over  the  persons  and 
property  of  these  powerful  princes,  by  having  the  wives 
and  families  as  hostages  at  Yedo,  was  promoted  by  the 
wish  for  their  welfare  on  the  part  of  the  husbands  or  par- 
ents, it  was  kept  in  force  by  the  strange  custom  of  these 
powerful  lords  coming  up  to  the  court  at  Yedo  every  alter- 
nate year,  or,  in  some  cases,  every  six  months.  Perhaps 
this  was  aided  by  the  dullness  of  their  country  quarters  com- 
pared with  the  gayety  of  the  capital.  If  the  Shiogoon  be 
a  minor,  or  incapable  of  holding  the  reins  of  power,  the 
ablest  or  the  least  scrupulous  of  those  who  have  any  claim 
to  the  situation  becomes  regent,  and  he  rules  the  empire  for 
the  time  being.  A  regency,  however,  has  not  been  fre- 
quently necessary  during  the  rule  of  the  present  family, 
but  the  appointment  has  never  been  held  by  one  man  for 
more  than  three  years,  and  the  tenure,  it  is  said,  has  gen- 


HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

erally  been  terminated  by  assassination.  The  regent  re- 
moves his  political  foes,  and  appoints  in  their  place  men 
holding  his  own  views.  He  carries  himself  as  a  ruler  over 
men  who  are  his  superiors  in  wealth  and  rank — the  Ko- 
kushiu.  These  men  are  still  obliged  to  repair  to  Yedo, 
where  they  find,  in  place  of  an  acknowledged  superior,  a 
haughty  inferior,  to  whom  they  must  pay  court.  This  is 
one  weak  point  of  the  system,  and  that  upon  which  it  threat- 
ened to  break  up.  This  forms  the  last  chapter  of  the  history 
of  the  empire. 

The  above  is  a  sketch  of  the  court  of  the  Shiogoon,  with 
which  one  must  be  acquainted  before  the  past  history  or  the 
current  events  in  the  empire  can  be  thoroughly  understood. 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE   HISTORY   OF  THE   EMPIRE   CONTINUED 

THE  history  of  Japan,  during  the  two  and  a  half  centuries 
after  the  death  of  lyeyas,  presents  a  continuous  narrative  of 
tranquillity  and  peace  when  contrasted  with  the  stormy  times 
which  preceded  that  era.  The  laws  which  lyeyas  made,  and 
the  steps  which  he  took,  seem  to  have  brought  about  the  end 
which  he  had  in  view ;  namely,  establishing  his  own  family 
as  de  facto  rulers  of  the  empire,  and  placing  them  upon  a 
seat  which  should  be  too  strong  for  any  rival  to  overthrow. 

The  peace  which  was  so  happily  granted  to  the  empire 
was  so  perfect  and  of  such  duration  that  in  the  year  1806  a 
great  national  festival  was  held,  when  the  nobles  and  people 
congratulated  the  Emperor  upon  what  was  an  unprecedented 
fact  in  the  history  of  Japan,  and  indeed  it  may  be  said  of 
any  nation,  an  unbroken  peace  of  nearly  two  hundred  years. 

The  only  subject  of  discord  left  behind  him  by  lyeyas  at 
his  death  was  the  question  of  the  treatment  of  the  foreigner 


HISTORY  OF   EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  289 

in  his  twofold  capacity  of  trader  and  missionary.  The  for- 
eigner as  a  trader  lyeyas  wished  to  retain  at  his  ports,  in 
order  that  he  himself  might  enjoy  the  benefits  of  trade,  and 
keep  himself  acquainted  with  what  was  going  on  in  the  world 
around  him.  The  foreigners  as  proselytizing  missionaries 
bringing  professions  of  peace  and  goodwill,  but  who  seemed 
to  be  in  reality  preachers  of  sedition  and  organizers  of  rebel- 
lion, were  not  to  be  tolerated ;  and  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  if  any  real  peace  was  to  be  obtained  for  the  country,  it 
must  be  at  the  expense  of  the  former.  "Perish  trade,"  he 
said,  "that  my  country  may  have  the  greater  blessing  of 
peace."  With  the  view  of  carrying  out  his  plans,  another 
edict  was,  in  the  year  1616,  promulgated  against  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion,  about  which  time  the  evidence  of  these 
fathers  would  lead  to  the  belief  that,  "from  Taikosama's 
death,  1598,  to  the  year  1614,  the  fathers  of  the  Society  bap- 
tized upward  of  104,000;  and  what  is  more,  in  the  three  first 
years  of  the  persecution,  when  the  very  pillars  themselves 
began  to  shake,  they  converted  15,000  more.  By  this  time 
the  Jesuits  had  traversed  the  whole  empire,  and  claimed 
converts,  not  only  in  Yedo,  but  in  Oshiu  (or  Mootz)  and 
Dewa  to  the  extreme  north.  The  province  of  Oshiu  is  sep- 
arated from  Dewa  by  a  long  chain  of  high  mountains  all 
covered  with  snow,  and  here  it  was  that  the  poor  exiled 
Christians  lived,  destitute  of  all  human  assistance.  One  of 
the  Jesuits,  moved  with  compassion  at  their  misfortune,  took 
a  journey  into  that  country,  climbing  up  the  hills  over  hide- 
ous precipices  in  deep  snow.  He  visited  privately  the  Chris- 
tians that  wrought  in  the  mines,  and  confessed  and  com- 
municated them.  The  same  he  did  at  the  hospital  of  lepers, 
which  happened  to  be  at  that  time  full  of  Christians."  This 
was,  as  we  are  told,  done  quietly,  and  by  the  assistance  of 
converts;  but,  as  heretofore,  while  some  of  the  different 
orders  of  the  Roman  Church  were  disposed  to  keep  quiet 
till  better  times  should  dawn,  and  carry  on  their  ministra- 
tions in  secret,  as  it  were,  others  were  still  inclined  to  show 
a  zeal  without  knowledge,  and  thus  kept  up  the  ardor  of 

13 


290  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

their  enemies  about  the  court.  During  the  year  1626  Midzu 
no  and  Take  naka  were  sent  down  to  Nagasaki  to  examine 
into  and  report  upon  the  state  of  the  Christian  religion;  and 
the  government,  knowing  that  the  Cross  was  the  symbol  of 
the  faith,  and  an  object  of  the  highest  reverence  among  the 
Christians,  resolved  to  make  the  question  of  such  reverence 
the  shibboleth  or  test  of  the  individual  strength  of  faith.  In 
1636  orders  were  issued  by  government  that  every  one  in 
Nagasaki  was  to  assemble  each  month  for  the  purpose  of 
standing  upon,  with  the  object  of  desecrating,  a  copper  "ita," 
or  plate,  with  an  engraven  representation  of  the  Christian 
criminal  God — i.e.,  of  our  Saviour.  This  order  was  strictly 
carried  out  at  Nagasaki,  while  another  such  plate  was  (and 
is)  kept  at  Osaka  for  the  purpose  of  testing  suspected  per- 
sons. This  act  of  desecration  is  known  as  "  Yayboomi,"  and 
was  carried  out  till  the  recent  conclusion  of  treaties  with 
Christian  nations. 

This  last  device  of  the  government  appears  to  have  been 
successful  in  separating  the  Christian  element  from  the 
heathen;  but  it  terminated  in  a  way  which  was,  perhaps, 
not  expected  by  the  authorities ;  namely,  in  driving  the  poor 
Christians  of  the  island  of  Kiusiu  to  band  together,  and  ulti- 
mately in  desperation  to  take  up  arms  in  their  own  defense. 
Had  the  Christians  resorted  to  this  ultima  ratio  at  first, 
instead  of  leaving  it  as  the  last  card  they  had  to  play,  the 
result  of  the  game  might  have  been  different  from  what  it 
turned  out  to  be.  Refusing  to  perform  such  an  act  of  irrev- 
erence and  desecration,  they  were  obliged  to  fly  to  the  hills 
and  band  together  for  the  common  object  of  protection.  The 
numbers  increased  until  they  amounted  to  upward  of  40,000 
men.  The  most  prominent  leader  among  them  appears  to 
have  been  Massida  shiro,  fourth  son  of  Jimbe,  in  Kobemura, 
in  Hizen  province;  and  he  was  assisted  by  two  brothers, 
Oyano  Kozayaymon  and  O.  Kemmootz.  These  are  prob- 
ably the  two  brothers  to  whom  Tavernier,  the  great  East 
era  traveler,  alludes  in  an  appendix  to  his  work,  when  he 
mentions,  on  the  authority  of  one  Father  Barr,  who  seems 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE  CONTINUED.  291 

to  have  been  in  Japan  at  the  time,  that  "none  were  more 
zealous  or  faithful  to  the  Christians  than  the  two  lords  of 
Ximo,  Francis  and  Charles,  sons  of  the  lord  of  Buzen." 

The  Roman  Catholics  who  had  been  recently  forced  out 
of  the  city  of  Nagasaki  and  the  town  adjacent  gathered 
themselves  together  under  the  command  of  Massida,  and 
resolved  to  make  a  final  stand  in  the  island  of  Amacusa, 
at  that  time  belonging  to  Terasawa,  formerly  governor  of 
Nagasaki,  and  under  the  charge  of  his  retainer  Miako  tobe. 
The  first  move  of  this  Christian  army  was  to  seize  the  cas- 
tle of  Tomioka.  This  put  them  in  possession  of  the  island, 
after  which  the  army  crossed  over  to  occupy  the  castle 
of  Simabara,  situated  about  twenty  miles  from  Nagasaki, 
and  meditated  an  attack  upon  that  town.  The  movements 
of  both  parties  seem  to  have  been  slow,  as,  after  a  delay  of 
twelve  months,  the  government  issued  orders  to  the  Daimios 
of  the  island  of  Kiusiu  to  collect,  equip  and  send  forward  an 
army  under  the  command  of  Itakura  Suwo  no  kami  to  besiege 
the  castle  and  town  of  Simabara.  Itakura,  probably  acting 
upon  the  advice  of  his  augurs,  the  Buddhist  priesthood,  at- 
tacked the  city  upon  the  first  day  of  the  year,  and  was  killed 
in  the  attempt,  when  the  command  devolved  upon  Matzdaira 
Idzu  no  kami,  with  Toda  san  mong  and  Matzdaira  Sin  saburo. 
After  sustaining  a  siege  of  two  months,  and  repelling  several 
attacks,  the  Christians  were  at  last  overcome  and  the  castle 
was  taken.  The  whole  of  the  persons  found  in  the  city — 
men,  women,  and  children — were  massacred,  to  the  number 
of  31,000.  The  three  leaders  were  taken,  together  with  a 
woman,  beheaded,  and  the  heads  put  up  on  the  gate  of  the 
Dutch  factor's  house  at  Hirado.  After  the  affair  was  over, 
the  native  accounts  say  that  "the  guns  from  Nagasaki  were 
of  great  use,  therefore  he  presented  money."  The  factor  at 
the  time  appears  to  have  been  named  Koekkebekker,  and  the 
statement  that  money  was  presented  implies  in  the  native 
account  that  it  was  given  to  the  Dutch  for  the  assistance 
derived  from  their  cannon,  which  are  said  to  have  fired  from 
a  ship  and  a  battery  on  shore  426  balls.  A  great  deal  has 


292  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

been  made  of  this  against  the  Dutch,  as  using  their  influ- 
ence to  extirpate  Christianity  from  the  empire ;  but  when 
the  guns  were  demanded  by  the  Japanese,  the  Dutch  factor 
was  powerless  to  refuse. 

A  few  native  vessels  were  at  this  time  permitted  to  trade 
with  China,  -Hainan,  Formosa,  and  Tonquin;  and  there 
must  have  been  a  considerable  number  of  Japanese  collected 
in  Macao  and  its  neighborhood,  some  probably  traders  or 
runaway  sailors,  others  as  refugees  on  account  of  religion, 
or  as  being  educated  for  the  priesthood.  Up  to  a  recent 
period  the  remains  of  a  large  building  with  a  garden-wall 
were  visible  on  the  Lappa,  opposite  Macao,  which  was 
known  to  the  Chinese  as  the  "Yut  pone  lao,"  or  Japanese 
hall,  now  better  known  as  the  "Fan  kwei  lao,"  or  hall  of 
the  outer  devils. 

According  to  native  history,  in  the  year  1640  some  of  the 
"Jashiu  mong"  (one  of  the  names  by  which  the  Roman 
Catholic  sect  was  known  in  Japan)  came  to  Kagosima  in 
Satsuma.  Orders  were  given  to  the  inhabitants  not  to  speak 
to  and  not  to  listen  to  these  foreigners.  Two  officers,  Kan- 
gatsume  from  Miako  and  Baba  saburo  from  Nagasaki,  were 
ordered  to  investigate  and  communicate  the  result.  They 
found  that ' '  there  were  in  one  ship  seventy-three  men  of  this 
sect ;  of  this  number  sixty  were  beheaded,  and  the  remainder 
were  sent  to  the  islands."  This  is  the  way  in  which  native 
authors  put  the  arrival  and  treatment  of  four  Portuguese 
gentlemen  who  were  sent  as  embassadors  to  Japan  from 
Macao  in  order  to  endeavor  if  possible  by  a  last  stroke  to 
reopen  the  trade  which  had  been  lost.  The  four  gentle- 
men, with  their  suite  and  the  crews  of  the  vessels  to  the 
number  of  sixty  men,  were  beheaded  at  Nagasaki,  while 
the  remaining  thirteen  were  sent  back  to  Macao  to  inform 
the  authorities  there  of  the  treatment  they  had  received. 
In  the  Cathedral  of  Macao  may  be  seen  a  painting  of  the 
execution  of  these  embassadors. 

Deeply  regretting  the  loss  of  the  trade  of  Japan,  and 
nothing  daunted  by  the  fate  of  these  envoys,  King  John, 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE    CONTINUED.  293 

upon  ascending  the  throne  of  Portugal  after  the  separation 
of  the  kingdom  from  the  dominion  of  Spain,  thought  it  a 
good  opportunity  to  attempt  to  reopen  negotiations;  and 
with  this  view  Don  Gonzalo  de  Sequeyra  was  dispatched 
with  two  vessels  and  numerous  presents  to  pave  the  way. 
He  was,  though  more  fortunate,  not  more  successful  than 
those  envoys  sent  from  Macao.  By  the  accounts  of  native 
historians,  "two  black  ships  came  to  the  island  of  Iwoga 
sima,  south  ol  Satsuma.  They  said  they  were  all  Nanbang 
men,  and  that  there  was  not  one  Roman  Catholic  [priest?] 
among  them.  The  captain  said,  'My  country's  king  is  now 
changed.  I  have  a  dispatch  from  the  new  king,  and  I  wish 
it  to  be  forwarded  as  soon  as  convenient  to  Yedo. '  '  Inoo- 
yay  and  Yamagaki  were  sent  from  Yedo  to  make  inquiries. 
They  demanded  that  the  powder  and  guns  should  first  of  all 
be  given  up,  and  then  they  would  hear  what  the  envoys  had 
to  say.  The  captain  replied,  "  'Trading  is  a  matter  which 
concerns  all  countries.  If  Japan  does  not  choose  to  trade 
with  us,  that  is  her  affair,  but  the  guns  and  powder  cannot 
be  given  up.'  Thereupon  all  the  Daimios  in  the  island  of 
Kiusiu  were  ordered  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  with 
men  and  boats.  The  name  of  the  envoy  was  Koni  sa  aru," 
etc.,  in  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  write  his  name  in 
Japanese  sounds.  He  said  he  was  a  relative  of  the  King  of 
Portugal.  Answer  was  sent  down  from  Yedo  to  the  effect 
that  these  ships  had  committed  a  serious  offense,  but  that 
they  should  be  dealt  leniently  with,  and  were  to  be  ordered 
to  leave  the  shores  and  not  to  return.  After  staying  in  all 
forty-three  days,  the  two  vessels  departed.  They  had  two 
captains  and  400  men.  The  one  was  156  feet  long  by  42 
broad;  the  other  was  144  feet  long  by  36  broad.  Each  ves- 
sel had  20  large  guns.  After  this  visit  orders  were  given  to 
the  Kiusiu  Daimios  to  have  always  in  readiness  a  force  of 
55,000  men  and  997  guard-boats  for  the  protection  of  the 
coasts.  In  the  year  1666  another  edict  was  issued  against 
the  Roman  Catholics,  so  that  it  would  appear  that  some 
sparks  of  the  faith  were  still  lingering  here  and  there, 


294  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

which    the    government    feared    might    at    a   moment  be 
fanned  into  flame. 

In  the  year  1709,  Abbe  Sidotti,  an  Italian  priest  of  good 
family,  determined  to  devote  himself  to  the  cause,  and  to 
make  another  attempt  to  regain  Japan  to  the  Church  of 
Rome.  "With  difficulty  he  found  a  captain  of  a  vessel  trad- 
ing at  Manila,  who  agreed  to  put  him  ashore  on  some  point 
of  the  coast,  and  there  to  leave  him  to  his  own  resources. 
When  off  the  coast  of  Satsuma  a  boat  was  lowered,  and  the 
abbe,  with  a  few  small  coins  in  his  pocket,  was  put  on  shore. 
The  boat  returned,  and  the  ship  sailed  away.  After  a  long 
interval,  a  report  reached  the  Dutch  factory,  through  Chi- 
nese, that  the  abbe  had  been  taken  and  immured  between 
two  walls,  and  allowed  to  perish  of  hunger.  But  this  has 
lately  been  disproved  by  the  discovery  of  a  full  account  of 
his  arrest  and  examination,  and  detention  about  Yedo  until 
his  death,  which  does  not  appear  to  have  taken  place  for 
many  years.  This  was  the  last  effort  made  by  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  regain  the  footing  she  had  lost. 

Hidetada,  the  son  and  successor  of  lyeyas,  would  seem 
not  to  have  possessed  the  talents  or  firmness  of  his  father, 
but  he  had  the  advantage  of  his  father's  advice  and  assist- 
ance during  the  greater  part  of  his  rule.  His  son,  lyaymitz, 
when  he  was  capable  of  ruling,  and  had  come  to  the  office 
of  Shiogoon,  found  that  the  spirit  of  the  Daimios  had  been 
softened  by  the  long  peace.  The  yoke  of  the  Tokungawa 
family  did  not  gall  their  necks,  and  they  preferred  peace 
and  ease  in  the  assured  possession  of  their  estates,  to  the 
risk  and  violence  of  wars  and  constant  disturbance  in  the 
empire.  lyaymitz  on  more  than  one  occasion  visited  the  Em- 
peror in  Miako  with  great  pomp,  but  a  real  or  suspected 
attempt  to  assassinate  him  seems  to  have  put  a  stop  to  these 
visits. 

The  year  1634  is  given  as  the  date  at  which  the  custom 
of  the  Daimios  visiting  Yedo  on  alternate  years  commenced. 
The  Daimios  coming  to  Yedo  and  returning  from  it  are 
spoken  of  as  Sankin  and  Kotai.  The  custom  seems  to  have 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  295 

been  long  in  use  in  Miako,  but  in  a  more  temporary  way, 
and  simply  as  being  a  duty  of  each  lord  to  visit  and  pay  his 
respects  at  the  imperial  court  once  a  year  when  they  offered 
presents.  This  visit  was  by  lyeyas  transferred  to  his  court 
at  Yedo  and  Soonpu;  but  it  appears  to  have  fallen  into  des- 
uetude and  irregularity  during  the  life  of  Hidetada.  But 
lyaymitz,  who  was  an  able,  proud,  and  precise  ruler,  found 
that  his  father  had  not  been  much  respected  by  the  Daimios, 
who  still  retained  the  recollection  of  the  wars  and  prowess 
of  lyeyas ;  but  in  course  of  time  these  men  were  succeeded 
by  their  sons,  who  were  of  a  more  effeminate  spirit,  and  had 
no  such  associations.  lyaymitz,  taking  advantage  of  this 
change,  invited  all  the  Daimios  to  visit  him  in  Yedo,  when 
he  proposed  rules  for  their  visiting  and  residing  at  his  court, 
to  which  they  all  agreed,  swearing  fealty,  and  signing  the 
deed  each  with  his  own  blood  drawn  from  above  the  nail  of 
the  finger.  A  hall  had  been  built  on  the  Goteng  yama,  a 
rising-ground  near  Yedo,  in  which  the  Shiogoon  was  to  meet 
the  Daimios  on  their  arrival ;  but  under  lyaymitz  the  custom 
was  discontinued  and  the  ground  made  public. 

During  the  same  year,  the  "Court  of  Deliberation,"  the 
Hio  jo  sho,  was  established  in  Yedo,  with  the  view  at  the 
outset  of  investigating  charges  brought  against  Daimios. 
The  Mayassu  hako,  or  box  for  complaints,  now  standing 
in  front  of  the  Hio  jo  sho,  was  not  placed  there  till  the  year 
1721. 

One  Shiogoon  after  another  succeeded  to  the  throne,  not 
always  without  suspicion  of  unfair  means  being  used  to 
hasten  the  conclusion  of  the  reign.  It  is  generally  believed 
that  Tsuna  yoshi  was  killed  by  his  wife  when  he  was  on  the 
eve  of  proclaiming  the  son  of  Yanangi  sawa,  one  of  his  min- 
isters, his  successor.  The  heir  was  lyay  nobuko,  the  son  of 
the  eldest  son  of  lyaymitz,  the  father,  when  a  young  man, 
having  been  sent  to  the  castle  of  Kof oo  under  arrest  on  ac- 
count of  irregularity  of  conduct.  In  the  year  1716,  on  the 
death  of  the  infant  Shiogoon,  lyay  tsoongu,  a  difficulty  oc- 
curred as  to  the  succession,  when  Yoshi  mone,  who  was  of 


296  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

the  royal  house  of  Kii  shiu,  was  selected  by  the  Kokushu, 
on  the  recommendation  of  Eeyee  kamong  no  kami,  then 
Regent.  Having  abdicated  in  1745,  he  died  in  1751,  and  is 
reputed  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  wisest  of  the  Shiogoons  of 
the  dynasty.  The  next  Shiogoon  was  lyay  hige;  and  dur- 
ing the  rule  of  his  successor,  lyay  haru,  about  1765,  a  com- 
mon foot-soldier,  Tanuma,  rose  to  be  chief  minister,  a  posi- 
tion and  power  which  he  used  not  only  to  gratify  his  own 
evil  propensities,  but  to  disseminate  the  same  corruption 
over  the  empire.  Preventing  all  communications  with  the 
Shiogoon,  he  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes ;  forbade 
all  persons  to  study ;  changed  the  laws ;  and  devoted  himself 
and  the  empire  to  debauchery.  He  was  made  a  Daimio,  and 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  Cabinet.  A  conspiracy  formed 
against  him  failed,  and  the  principal  conspirators  were  be- 
headed ;  but  he  was  at  length  put  down  by  Matzdaira  Etsjiu 
no  kami,  who  published  at  this  time  the ' '  Tenka  hatto,  mikka 
hatto,"  or  three  days'  proclamation  over  the  empire. 

The  Japanese  are  proud  of  and  delight  in  the  beautiful 
scenery  of  their  country;  and  every  one  who  has  opportu- 
nity, including  nearly  all  the  inhabitants,  male  and  female, 
makes  a  walking  tour  at  some  period  of  his  life  over  the 
country,  visiting  the  more  remarkable  temples,  which  are 
generally  placed  in  favorable  sites  amid  woods,  and  sur- 
rounded by  fine  forest-trees,  the  immediate  precincts  being 
kept  with  the  most  scrupulous  care  and  nicety  of  gardening. 
Nowhere  are  the  temples  more  magnificent  or  the  scenery 
finer  than  about  Miako ;  and  it  had  been  for  long  the  custom 
for  the  Emperor  to  go  out  and  visit  some  one  of  the  temples 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Miako,  and  offer  worship.  In  the 
year  1722  a  day  was  set  apart  in  spring,  and  again  in 
autumn,  on  which  the  whole  court  should  annually  go  out 
on  a  sort  of  gigantic  picnic — the  Emperor  drawn  in  a  car 
by  oxen,  and  accompanied  by  all  the  Koongays — when  *hey 
visit  some  of  the  temples  most  renowned  for  their  sanctity 
or  for  the  beauty  of  the  grounds.  This  procession  is  called 
Miyuki  or  Gokowo.  There  are  two  gardens  adjoining  the 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  297 

palace  in  Miako,  Shoongakuji  and  Katsura,  which  are  said 
to  be  most  exquisitely  laid  out  and  kept  in  beautiful  order. 
The  gardeners  who  have  the  charge  of  these  gardens  belong 
to  a  class  or  sect  known  as  Gayra,  a  people  who  live  apart 
by  themselves  in  a  few  villages  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
capital.  They  are  said  to  have  kept  themselves  apart  in 
customs  and  religion  for  many  generations.  In  religion, 
they  say  there  is  but  one  God,  and  that  all  men  below  the 
Emperor  are  equal.  They,  as  Quakers  with  us,  will  not  use 
terms  of  respect  to  other  men,  such  as  "kudasare,"  or  call 
men  by  titles,  as  "sama,"  similar  to  "esquire";  saying  that 
they  only  adhere  to  old  customs  in  so  doing.  They  are 
themselves  respected  as  being  of  old  and  pure  descent,  and 
their  children  are  often  selected  by  Koongays  for  adoption. 
They  principally  follow  the  occupation  of  gardeners,  or  that 
of  breeders  of  horses. 

In  the  year  1639,  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  having 
been  expelled,  and  the  Dutch  factory  alone  left  at  Hirado, 
the  commissioner  was  ordered  to  remove  his  people  and 
offices  to  the  small  factory  on  Desima,  "the  Outer  Island," 
at  the  head  of  the  inlet  of  Nagasaki,  and  trade  was  prohib- 
ited at  all  other  places  in  Japan,  and  to  any  other  nation, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Chinese. 

In  connection  with  the  Dutch  and  their  position  on  these 
seas,  the  pirate  commonly  known  as  Coxinga  is  worthy  of 
notice.  Koku  seng  ya,  as  he  is  known  in  Japanese  history, 
was  the  son  of  a  Chinese,  Ching  tsing  lung  (Tayshi  rio  in 
Japanese),  by  a  Japanese  woman.  The  father  was  for  many 
years,  as  pirate  and  admiral,  the  terror  of  the  Chinese  seas. 
His  son  succeeded  him  in  his  former  capacity,  and  reduced 
the  coasts  of  China  to  such  a  state  of  terror  and  devasta- 
tion, that  an  order  was  given,  as  a  desperate  remedy,  that 
every  person  should  remove  into  the  interior  to  a  distance  of 
twelve  miles  from  the  shore,  leaving  the  cities  to  decay  and 
the  fields  to  waste.  In  1647  Coxinga  went  over  to  Japan, 
and  offered  his  services  to,  or  asked  the  assistance  of,  the 
government  in  an  attack  he  meditated  upon  China ;  but  his 


298  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

application  was  refused.  He  seems  to  have  again  applied  to 
the  government  in  1658,  when  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
island  of  Formosa.  A  large  number  of  Japanese  converts 
had  fled  to  this  island,  and  the  Dutch  had  built  one  or  two 
forts  with  the  view  of  protecting  a  trade  which  they  hoped 
might  grow  up  with  China.  In  1662  Coxinga  attacked  and 
captured  the  fort  Zelandia,  putting  to  death  nearly  all  the 
Dutch  soldiers,  missionaries,  and  their  wives  and  families. 
Only  a  few  men  and  some  of  the  young  women  were  not 
killed.  A  curious  but  melancholy  sigh  is  wafted  over  from 
this  long-forgotten  remnant  of  Dutch  Christianity  and  civili- 
zation in  a  letter  which  was  brought  to  Japan  about  the  year 
1711  by  the  captain  of  an  English  vessel  who  had  touched  at 
Formosa  on  his  way  out ;  and  as  the  letter  comes  through  a 
Japanese  channel,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  its  authentic- 
ity. The  captain,  in  answer  to  interrogations,  says,  "There 
is  no  war  in  Tonay  [Formosa]  now,  and  we  have  no  trade 
there.  The  Dutch  head  man  asked  me  to  give  the  following 
letter  to  the  Dutch  commissioners  in  Nagasaki:  'Please  ask 
Japan  to  help  us;  we  are  now  shut  up  as  hi  a  prison,  and 
every  day  we  weep.  The  names  of  the  Dutch  in  Tonay  are 
[here  the  names  are  given  in  Japanese].  I  hear  that  this 
English  vessel  is  going  hence  to  Japan;  therefore  we  take 
the  opportunity  of  sending  this  letter  to  you.  The  Tonay 
country  was  seized  many  years  ago;  but  we  are  still  alive, 
but  we  are  in  a  most  miserable  state.  Please  help  us  to 
return  to  our  country.  We  pray  you  to  speak  to  the  Kogee 
[Kubosama]. 

"  'Signed  by  the  head  man  Yohang  Hoorohooro,  and 
two  others. 

"  'There  are  ten  women  and  several  children  here.'  ' 
Nicolas  Verburgh  seems  to  have  been  the  name  of  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  fort  at  the  time  of  its  capture  in 
1662,  and  the  signature,  as  written  by  a  Japanese,  closely 
corresponds  to  the  pronunciation  of  the  name,  and  Yohang 
may  have  been  his  son  John.  From  the  tenor  of  the  letter 
it  seems  hardly  possible  to  doubt  but  that  these  were  some 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  299 

of  the  survivors  of  the  Dutch  captured  in  1062,  and  if  so,  it 
is  curious  to  have  such  a  fact  coming  to  light  through  Japa- 
nese informants,  and  melancholy  to  think  of  such  a  tedious 
captivity  lightened  up  after  fifty  years  by  the  hope  of  once 
more  revisiting  their  home,  and  being  redeemed  from  their 
never-ending  misery. 

The  name  of  this  English  ship  is  not  given,  but  native 
history  tells  us  that  the  captain  brought  with  him  an  exact 
copy  of  the  treaty  or  letter  signed  by  lyeyas,  traced  upon 
paper,  and  expressed  a  wish  to  communicate  with  the  Shio- 
goon  at  Yedo.  A  Dutch  interpreter  was  sent  to  see  if  there 
were  any  Portuguese  on  board.  The  guns  and  muskets 
were  taken  ashore.  There  were  eighty-four  of  a  crew  on 
board.  The  captain's  name  was  Sayemon  Terohoo  (Simon 
Drew?).  The  ship  was  114  feet  long  by  27  broad.  Then 
follows  a  list  of  articles  on  board — ammunition,  which  was 
taken  charge  of  by  the  Japanese :  Gunpowder,  35  tubs;  balls, 
660;  leaden  bullets,  2  tubs;  iron  bullets,  1  tub;  small  stone 
bullets,  8  tubs;  matchlocks,  47;  flint  muskets,  23;  spears, 
24;  swords,  339. 

There  were  on  board,  as  presents  for  the  Shiogoon,  "one 
fine  English  musket,  double-barreled,  3  feet  3  inches  in 
length;  four  muskets  with  very  intricate  and  finely-made 
locks,  besides  eight  others  which  cannot  be  used,  but  are 
very  well  made;  and  four  molds  for  making  balls." 

The  cargo  consisted  of  cotton,  woolen  and  cotton  cloth, 
furs,  fragrant  wood,  chintz,  scented  water,  quicksilver,  look- 
ing glasses,  tin,  silk,  crape,  etc.  The  captain  was  interrogated 
as  to  his  religion,  as  to  the  Portuguese,  and  as  to  a  change 
he  had  made  in  the  national  flag  which  he  sailed  under, 
which  he  explained  by  saying  that  he  was  told  the  Japanese 
did  not  like  the  cross. 

The  Dutch  had  carried  on  their  trade  at  the  island  of 
Hirado,  where  an  extensive  land-locked  bay  is  pointed  out 
as  the  harbor.  They  were  ordered  in  1639  to  leave  that 
port,  and  in  future  to  resort  to  Nagasaki,  where  a  small 
island,  which  was  afterward  connected  by  a  bridge  with  the 


300  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

town,  was  appointed  them  as  a  place  of  residence  and  for 
trade,  being  about  the  same  size  as  the  factories  at  Canton 
occupied  by  foreigners  till  1856. 

Several  attempts  were  made  by  other  nations,  at  long 
intervals,  to  reopen  a  trade  with  the  country;  but  it  was 
thought  by  the  Dutch  to  be  their  interest  to  oppose  any 
such  competition,  and  the  Japanese  themselves  dreaded, 
with  good  cause,  any  renewal  of  the  former  state  of  things. 

The  national  annals  during  the  period  which  elapsed  be- 
tween the  era  of  lyeyas  and  the  reopening  of  the  country 
advert  to  a  number  of  occurrences  of  temporary  and  local 
importance  only.  The  comparatively  trivial  nature  of  these 
tends  to  bring  out  into  relief  the  continued  quiet  and  rest 
which  the  country  has  enjoyed  under  the  form  of  govern- 
ment established  by  lyeyas,  and  after  all  complications  aris- 
ing from  dealings  with  other  nations  were  forcibly  put  an 
end  to  by  the  expulsion  of  foreigners. 

The  Daimio  Fkushima  Massaiiori  was  banished  in  161 9 
to  the  island  of  Hatchi  jo  for  a  series  of  cruelties  practiced 
upon  his  family,  his  servants,  and  his  people,  which  show 
that  he  was  deranged ;  and  his  extensive  territories,  occupy- 
ing three  provinces,  were  confiscated. 

In  1621  the  Emperor  married  the  daughter  of  the  Shio- 
goon. 

The  temple  of  To  yay  zan  was  built  in  Yedo  for  the  occu- 
pation of  the  high-priest,  who  is  alluded  to  in  the  laws  of 
lyeyas  as  being  appointed  to  fill  that  position  as  a  near  rela- 
tive of  the  Emperor,  and  one  whom  the  Shiogoon  may  place 
on  the  throne  in  case  of  rebels  siding  with  the  Emperor  in 
opposition  to  the  Shiogoon.  He  is  the  most  illustrious  per- 
sonage in  Yedo.  The  grounds  are  very  beautiful,  and 
formerly  belonged  to  the  family  of  Todo. 

In  the  year  1631,  about  the  month  of  November,  it  is 
curious  to  observe  that  the  annals  take  notice  of  a  prodig- 
ious number  of  ironstones  having  fallen  from  heaven,  show- 
ing that  the  meteoric  orbit  has  been  crossing  that  of  the 
earth  as  visibly  two  hundred  years  ago  as  it  does  now. 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  301 

This  occurrence  probably  took  place  during  the  day,  as  at 
other  times  these  meteors  are  spoken  of  as  falling  stars. 

The  aqueduct  by  which  water  is  led  from  the  Taman- 
gawa  to  Yedo,  and  thence  discharged  into  the  castle  and 
town  by  wooden  pipes,  was  constructed  in  1653.  Proposals 
have  been  made  at  different  times  to  substitute  iron  pipes, 
but  the  wooden  ones  still  remain — a  cause  of  constant  ex- 
pense to  the  government. 

The  burning  of  the  palace  at  Miako,  or  of  that  at  Yedo, 
is  one  of  the  most  common  occurrences  in  these  annals. 
Titsingh  gives  a  vivid  description  of  a  conflagration  which 
occurred  in  1788  in  Miako,  during  which  the  attendants  of 
the  Emperor  killed  more  than  a  thousand  persons  before  he 
could  be  carried  out  of  danger. 

The  government  in  Japan  reserves  the  privilege  of  sell- 
ing weights  and  scales  guaranteed  by  mark  and  certified  as 
correct.  The  weights  as  now  used  were  settled  in  1662. 

In  1666  a  new  edict  was  issued  against  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic religion;  and  in  1668  an  order  was  promulgated  pro- 
hibiting any  new  Buddhist  temples  being  erected.  In  all 
probability  the  Buddhist  priesthood  had  been  exalted  by 
their  victory  over  the  Roman  priesthood,  and  had  again 
acquired  so  much  power  as  to  be  once  more  threatening  to 
disturb  the  equilibrium  of  the  state.  The  zeal  of  individuals 
had  perhaps  been  again  endowing  new  and  enriching  old 
establishments,  actuated  by  feelings  with  which  the  state 
powers  did  not  wish  to  sympathize.  Only  four  years  before 
this  edict,  the  enormous  copper  idol  of  Buddha  at  Miako  had 
been  melted  down  and  coined  into  copper  "cash,"  and  a 
wooden  figure  was  substituted.  If  it  be  trues  as  is  asserted, 
that  it  was  three  or  four  times  the  size  of  the  figure  of  Dai 
boods,  near  Kamakura  (at  present  existing  in  copper,  and 
upward  of  forty-five  feet  in  height),  it  must  have  been  of 
considerable  value  in  coin. 

This  edict  against  the  erection  of  new  temples  is  still  in 
force  in  Japan,  and  while  it  is  aided  by  a  growing  want  of 
zeal  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  with  a  contempt  for  the 


302  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

priesthood,  it  may  be  broken  through  by  the  permission 
given  to  repair,  or  restore,  or  enlarge  any  temple  already 
existing,  however  small  it  may  be;  and  as  a  temple  or 
shrine  is  standing  upon  nearly  every  knoll  or  eminence  in 
Japan,  there  can  be  no  difficulty,  were  the  funds  forthcom- 
ing, of  raising  such  edifices  as  were  raised  of  old  by  the  zeal 
of  fervent  worshipers. 

The  Buddhist  priesthood  in  1720,  by  a  great  religious 
festival  all  over  the  empire,  commemorated  the  eleventh 
centenary  of  the  establishment  of  Buddhism. 

The  Japanese  claim  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  the 
Bonin  or  Monin  Islands  in  the  year  1683.  The  name  means 
"no  men,"  or  uninhabited.  Attempts  were  made  to  colo- 
nize the  islands,  but  they  seem  to  have  failed;  and  some 
English  and  Americans,  with  Sandwich  Islanders,  male  and 
female,  succeeded  them.  But  in  1862  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment fitted  out  a  vessel  and  carried  away  all  these  adven- 
turers, bringing  them  to  Yokohama,  and  it  seems  to  find 
the  islands  a  convenient  distance  to  which  they  can  send 
vessels  to  train  officers  and  men. 

A  work  was  commenced  in  1786  which  was  expected  to 
have  proved  of  great  advantage  to  Yedo.  This  was  the  cut- 
ting of  a  canal,  and  thereby  joining  several  already  existing 
channels,  by  which  a  through  communication  would  have 
been  opened  up  between  Yedo,  or  the  Bay  of  Yedo,  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean  on  the  east  coast.  The  part  of  the  province 
of  Simosa  between  Yedo  and  the  east  coast  is  very  low  land, 
and  it  is  generally  believed  that  at  one  time  the  sea  cut  off 
the  three  provinces  of  Simosa,  Kadsusa,  and  Awa,  which 
then  constituted  a  separate  island;  and  that  the  detritus 
brought  down,  after  a  course  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles, 
by  the  largest  river  in  Japan,  the  Tonay,  has  filled  up  with 
alluvium  the  sea  channel,  leaving  now  only  the  passage  for 
the  fresh  water  of  the  river.  In  the  course  of  the  filling  up, 
however,  a  large  lake  was  left,  the  Een  bang  numa.  About 
twenty  miles  above  Yedo,  the  Tonay,  coming  down  as  one 
river  from  the  Tonay  district,  divides  into  two.  The  one 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  303 

branch,  receiving  affluents  from  Hitatsi  and  the  northern 
provinces,  runs  due  east  as  the  Bando  taro,  or  "eldest  son 
of  Bando,"  and  enters  the  sea  between  Choshi  and  Itaku  on 
the  east  coast.  The  other  branch,  running  south,  enters  the 
sea  to  the  east  of  the  city  of  Yedo.  The  Okawa,  or  Great 
River,  runs  parallel  with  the  Tonay,  and  passes  through 
Yedo  spanned  by  five  bridges.  Between  the  Okawa  and 
Tonay,  and  running  parallel  to,  and  communicating  by 
canals  with  both,  is  the  Nakagawa  or  Middle  River.  By 
these  cross  canal  communications  the  passage  may  be  made 
from  Yedo  to  the  Pacific  on  the  east,  or  to  the  northern 
provinces  by  running  up  to  Seki  Yado,  where  the  bifurca- 
tion takes  place.  It  was  proposed  to  deepen  the  lake,  and 
cut  through  a  passage  from  it  into  the  Bay  of  Yedo. — The 
lower  part  of  Yedo  is  so  low  that  it  is  liable  to  be  over- 
flowed should  the  Tonay  rise  above  its  banks.  To  avert  this 
danger,  a  large  and  important  embankment,  the  Gongen  do, 
has  been  made  at  Koori  hashi.  Should  this  give  way,  the 
whole  of  the  lower  parts  of  Yedo  would  be  submerged,  as 
happened,  it  is  said,  in  1844. 

The  town  of  Sakura  first  started  the  project,  and  com- 
menced a  canal,  but  did  not  finish  the  work.  The  Shiogoon, 
seeing  the  advantages  of  the  proposed  cut,  ordered  the  Dai- 
mios  to  cut  the  remainder  of  this  canal  (of  about  fourteen 
miles  in  length),  each  cutting  as  his  share  about  360  feet. 
The  work,  which  was  immediately  commenced,  was  in  six 
months  half  completed,  when  orders  were  given  to  cease 
working  at  it.  In  1843  the  work  was  recommenced  by 
orders  of  government,  but  when  it  was  within  three  thou- 
sand yards  of  being  finished  it  was  again  stopped,  and  it 
continues  in  that  position  to  this  day. 

The  river  and  canal  communications  in  Japan  are  more 
ramified  than  the  mountainous  nature  of  the  country  would 
lead  one  to  expect.  It  is  said  that  Yedo  might,  by  short 
canals,  be  put  into  water  relations  with  Mito  on  the  east 
coast  and  Negata  on  the  north,  as  boats  can  go  up  the  Tonay 
to  Shimidzu,  within  eight  miles  of  the  navigable  part  of  the 


304  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Negata  waters;  while  Miako  might  be  joined  by  water  to 
Tsurunga  on  the  north  and  Owarri  on  the  south.  By  pri- 
vate enterprise,  in  the  year  1832,  the  Yodo  ngawa  between 
Miako  and  Osaka  was  deepened  and  improved  by  the  re- 
moval of  some  rocks.  It  is  said  that  the  Katsura  gawa,  or 
Hozu  kawa,  now  a  large  affluent  of  the  Yodo  gawa,  formerly 
ran  to  the  north  through  the  province  of  Wakasa ;  but  a  pri- 
vate individual,  Yodo  yo,  cut  a  channel  by  which  this  river 
now  flows  southward  into  the  Osaka  River.  His  family  is 
permitted  to  levy  tolls  upon  the  new  channel. 

The  occurrence  of  fearful  convulsions  of  nature  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  circumstances  in  these  annals;  and  it 
may  be  presumed  that  only  the  most  severe  are  noticed. 
But  recent  observations  go  to  show  that  almost  every  day 
there  is  an  observable  motion  of  the  earth  at  Yokohama 
from  subterranean  causes.  The  native  accounts  of  these, 
with  drawings,  give  an  appalling  idea  of  the  suddenness 
and  the  severity  of  earthquakes.  In  the  year  1707  a  very 
severe  earthquake  shook  the  whole  of  the  southern  part  of 
the  island  of  Nippon,  and  simultaneously  from  the  side  of 
the  mountain  Fusiyama  [Fusi — literally  "not  two,"  or  none 
such]  issued  an  eruption  of  volcanic  matter.  This  eruption 
continued  for  fifteen  days ;  and  at  Yedo,  a  distance  of  sev- 
enty miles,  dust  fell  to  the  depth  of  two  feet.  Fusiyama 
had  not  given  any  appearance  of  volcanic  action  for  centu- 
ries. The  projection  on  the  smooth  outline  of  the  hill  on 
the  northwestern  side  marks  the  place  where  this  action  took 
place,  and  is  known  as  Ho  yay  zan.  At  the  same  time  the 
volcano  Assama  yama,  in  Sinano,  broke  out  into  violent  ac- 
tion, by  which  the  two  adjacent  provinces  were  laid  under 
lava  or  dust.  The  same  mountain  broke  out  again  in  1783, 
and  of  the  destruction  done  at  that  time  Titsingh  gives  a 
fearful  account.  He  gives  details  of  an  earthquake  which 
occurred  in  1793  at  Simabara,  during  which  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  mountain  was  swallowed  up;  and  the  boil- 
ing sulphurous  springs  of  Onzen,  memorable  during  the 
persecutions  of  the  Christians,  were  dried  up.  The  fear  of 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE    CONTINUED.  305 

the  inhabitants  was  quickened  by  the  recollection  of  the 
eruption  of  Assama  yama,  in  Sinano,  only  ten  years  before. 
The  inhabitants,  with  their  houses,  were  engulfed  in  the 
openings  of  the  earth;  they  were  carried  away  by  boiling 
water  issuing  from  the  hill;  they  were  killed  by  falling 
stones  and  enormous  rocks;  they  were  surrounded  and 
burned  by  streams  of  fiery  lava;  they  were  drowned  by 
the  stoppage  of  rivers.  Some  were  found  suspended  from 
trees,  some  on  their  knees,  some  on  their  heads  in  mud,  the 
streets  strewed  with  dead  bodies.  The  falling  houses  imme- 
diately took  fire,  and  the  unfortunate  inmates  were  burned, 
or  were  confined  prisoners.  The  outline  of  the  coast  was 
completely  altered,  and  the  country  converted  into  a  desert. 
A  number  of  vessels  were  sunk  at  their  anchors,  and  those 
which  tried  to  get  away  could  hardly  do  so  from  dead  bodies 
and  floating  wood.  Fifty-three  thousand  are  known  to  have 
perished  in  this  earthquake  in  a  comparatively  thinly  pop- 
ulated district. 

In  1828  a  tremendous  earthquake  and  volcanic  eruption 
took  place  in  the  province  of  Etsingo,  during  which,  at  ISTa- 
datchi,  a  large  mountain  was  engulfed  and  disappeared. 
This  province  seems  to  be  entirely  undermined  by  fire.  The 
volcano  Taka  yama  is  called  the  entrance  to  hell.  Oil 
springs  from  the  ground.  Combustible  gas  issues  in  such 
quantity  as  to  be  used  for  cooking  and  lighting,  by  simply 
inserting  pipes  in  the  ground.  Phosphorescent  appearances 
are  seen  in  many  parts.  Soda  is  found  in  the  province  in 
large  quantities.  Here  many  flint  arrow  and  spear  heads 
have  been  found,  exactly  similar  in  shape  to  those  found  in 
Europe. 

The  frequency  of  these  earthquakes  is  a  reason  for  nearly 
all  the  habitations  of  man  being  built  of  wood ;  and  by  long 
experience  builders  have  arrived  at  certain  modes  of  build- 
ing, oy  which  the  great  danger  of  a  house  coming  down 
upon  the  inmates  is  in  many  cases  obviated.  They  seem  to 
depend  upon  the  roof  for  weight;  and  the  piles  upon  which 
this  heavy  roof  rests  are  not  fixed  firmly  into  the  ground, 


306  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

but  some  of  them  are  fixed  slightly  into  a  square  framework 
of  wood,  laid  on  stone,  while  the  others  stand  simply  each 
upon  the  surface  of  a  large,  round,  hard,  water-rolled  stone, 
which  has  been  firmly  imbedded  in  broken-down  sandstone. 
By  this  means  the  snap  of  a  sudden  shock  is  avoided,  and 
some  slight  motion  is  allowed.  "Whatever  be  the  principle 
upon  which  these  houses  are  erected,  it  is  wonderful  to  see 
buildings,  which  seem  to  be  put  up  in  a  shape  the  most  ready 
to  topple  over  upon  the  least  motion,  withstand  the  shocks  of 
earthquakes  for  ages.  There  are  pagodas  in  many  parts  of 
the  country  of  seven  and  even  nine  stories  high.  At  Kama- 
kura  is  a  temple  with  a  narrow  circular  neck,  above  which 
the  eaves  of  a  square  roof  project  to  about  ten  feet  on  every 
side,  resembling  the  projection  of  a  Chinaman's  hat.  If  it 
could  withstand  the  wind,  it  could  never  be  expected  to  resist 
an  earthquake ;  and  yet  it  is  said  to  be  two  hundred  years 
old,  and  seems  as  sound  as  when  it  was  built. 

The  annals  do  not  disdain  to  mention  the  visits  of  the 
Emperor  to  witness  theatrical  exhibitions,  or  proceedings  of 
the  Shiogoon  in  quest  of  sport. 

The  Japanese  appear  to  be  very  partial  to  the  theater, 
and  there  seems  in  the  nation  an  innate  aptitude  for  such 
representation.  But  while  the  government  regulates  this, 
as  it  does  every  other  branch  of  the  amusements  as  well  as 
the  education  of  the  people,  actors  as  a  class  are  looked  upon 
as  the  lowest  in  the  scale  of  society.  The  female  parts  are 
generally  taken  by  boys. 

Some  companies  go  about  the  country  composed  entirely 
of  boys  or  young  children,  none  of  whom  are  apparently 
upward  of  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age.  The  people  enjoy 
these  very  much,  and  will  take  their  meals  and  sit  all  day 
watching  the  different  acts,  applauding  vigorously  at  what- 
ever they  appreciate  in  acting,  or  what  may  amuse  them  in 
the  play.  Nothing  seems  to  excite  their  feelings  and  evoke 
their  applause  more  than  a  well-acted  suicide  by  stabbing  the 
abdomen.  During  the  evenings  many  minor  places  of  amuse- 
ment are  open,  such  as  jugglers,  marionettes,  and  tellers  of 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  307 

stories.  Wrestling  by  professionals  is  another  spectacle 
which  always  draws  a  very  large  concourse  of  spectators, 
generally  male ;  but  women  are  on  occasions  to  be  seen  view- 
ing the  maneuvers  of  the  contest  with  the  greatest  interest. 
These  spectacles  have  been  well,  though  perhaps  over,  de- 
scribed by  Commodore  Perry.  Besides  these  full-grown 
wrestlers,  companies  go  about,  having  under  tuition  boys  of 
from  eight  to  twelve  years  of  age,  who  wrestle  with  all  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  their  full-grown  compeers.  The 
same  laws  regulate  the  game  under  the  formal  umpire.  A 
successful  wrestler  is  hailed  with  loud  applause;  and  under 
the  influence  of  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  money  is  fre- 
quently thrown  to  the  conqueror,  or  for  want  of  it  men  will 
throw  their  coats  or  napkins,  which  they  afterward  redeem. 
The  long  peace  subsequent  to  the  time  of  lyeyas,  though 
unbroken  by  any  national  disturbance,  was  not  wholly  free 
from  local  events,  which  might,  had  they  been  fanned,  have 
broken  out  in  serious  trouble.  In  1837,  Osaka  and  the  neigh- 
borhood were  disturbed  by  a  rising  which  was  instigated  by 
an  officer,  Oshiwo,  who,  by  the  distribution  of  money  and  by 
placards,  excited  the  people  of  the  city  against  the  author- 
ities. During  the  riot,  which  may  be  said  to  have  lasted 
only  one  day,  nearly  all  the  principal  shops  in  Osaka  were 
pillaged  and  burned.  The  ringleader  escaped,  but  was  after- 
ward discovered,  though  he  blew  the  house  up  in  which  he 
was  hiding  before  he  could  be  arrested.  Notwithstanding 
that  the  government  exercises  such  surveillance  over  the 
people,  and  that  one-fourth  of  the  community  seem  to  be 
spies  upon  the  remainder,  risings  of  the  people  do  occasion- 
ally take  place.  These  riots  are  especially  frequent  in  the 
provinces  of  Oomi,  Sinano,  and  Kahi.  In  the  latter,  during 
1838,  a  rebellion  broke  out  which  threatened  to  be  somewhat 
more  formidable  than  usual.  Several  high  officers  and  many 
men  on  both  sides  were  killed.  In  truth,  in  the  province  of 
Kahi  (or  Koshiu)  the  people  are  great  politicians  and  unruly, 
and  at  the  same  time  under  some  sort  of  volunteer  organiza- 
tion. Officers  are  in  general  somewhat  afraid  of  an  appoint- 


HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

merit  to  the  province,  as  the  farmers  are  wealthy,  and  keep 
their  servants  well  supplied  with  arms,  which  they  teach 
them  how  to  use.  A  strong  force  is  always  kept  at  Hatch 
oji,  twenty-five  miles  from  Yokohama  on  the  road  to  Koshiu, 
as  a  protection  to  Yedo. 

In  the  year  1701  an  occurrence  took  place  which  termi- 
nated in  a  tragedy,  and  has  ever  since  been  one  of  the  na- 
tional tales  of  revenge,  which,  though  it  was  confined  to  a 
few  individuals,  has  conferred  on  them  immortality,  and  the 
admiration  of  their  countrymen  as  heroes.  Assano,  a  Daimio 
from  Ako,  in  the  province  of  Harima,  while  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  Shiogoon's  palace,  was  insulted  by  a  Kokay  of 
the  name  of  Kira,  when  a  quarrel  and  scuffle  took  place, 
during  which  Assano  drew  his  sword.  This  was  looked 
upon  as  such  a  heinous  offense  that  he  was  ordered  to  kill 
himself,  when  the  government  confiscated  his  property,  re- 
ducing his  family  and  retainers  to  poverty.  The  retainers 
(known  as  Geeshi),  exasperated  by  this  severity,  banded 
together  for  revenge,  and  forty -seven  proceeded  to  the  house 
of  Kira,  when  a  fight  commenced,  which  was  carried  on 
during  the  whole  night  till  the  morning,  by  which  time  they 
were  able  to  penetrate  to  his  apartment  and  kill  him.  The 
whole  forty-seven  then  proceeded  in  a  regular  and  method- 
ical manner  to  commit  suicide.  They  are  all  buried  at  the 
temple  of  Sengakuji,  near  the  temple  first  occupied  by  the 
British  Legation. 

In  1672  the  powerful  Lord  of  Sendai  was  put  to  death  by 
his  own  servants.  He  also  is  memorable  in  Japanese  story, 
but  more  on  account  of  his  baseness  and  cruelty,  which  he 
showed  by  a  trait  of  character  often  chosen  as  a  subject  by 
native  artists.  Being  a  man  given  up  to  debauchery  and 
the  gratification  of  his  passions,  he  became  enamored  of 
Takawo,  the  most  beautiful  courtesan  of  Yedo  at  the  time. 
He  wished  her  to  accompany  him  to  his  castle  in  the  north, 
but  she  refused.  She  had  an  aversion  to  him,  but  the  offer 
of  her  weight  in  gold  probably  prevailed  with  her,  or  with 
those  in  whose  possession  she  was,  to  give  consent.  He  took 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  309 

her  with  him,  and  on  the  way  to  his  castle,  upon  asking  her 
if  she  was  not  happy,  she  replied  that  she  was  not,  when  in 
a  rage  he  drew  his  sword  and  cut  off  her  head. 

The  occasions  upon  which  European  vessels  communi- 
cated with  Japan  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  seem  to  have  been  few,  and  at  long  intervals. 
About  1637,  Lord  Waddell,  with  some  ships,  called  in  at 
Nagasaki,  but  was  not  allowed  to  communicate  with  the 
Dutch. 

In  1673,  1768,  1791,  1793,  1796  and  1803,  notices  occur  in 
the  native  annals  of  the  visits  of  foreign  vessels. 

In  1808,  the  "Phaeton"  frigate,  under  Captain  Pellew, 
paid  a  visit  to  Nagasaki  during  the  time  when  Holland  was 
at  war  with  England.  According  to  native  accounts,  the 
captain  wished  to  carry  off  the  Dutch  commissioner.  For 
that  purpose  he  landed  his  men  (in  a  boat  made  of  leather?), 
who  displayed  the  usual  playful  habits  of  English  sailors  in 
a  foreign  town,  "striking  everybody,  and  breaking  every- 
thing they  could."  The  Prince  of  Hizen  was  not  on  the 
spot;  the  governor  of  Nagasaki  was  quite  unprepared;  the 
Prince's  lieutenant  proposed  to  burn  the  frigate  by  means  of 
fire-boats,  but  the  frigate  sailed  before  any  steps  could  be 
taken.  The  governor  of  the  town,  the  Prince  of  Hizen,  his 
lieutenant  and  the  guards,  are  all  said,  by  native  accounts, 
to  have  committed  suicide. 

In  1813,  during  the  time  when  Holland  was  absorbed  by 
France,  Sir  Stamford  Raffles  sent  a  vessel  from  Java  with  a 
Dutch  officer  to  take  the  place  of  the  representative  of  Hol- 
land then  at  Nagasaki ;  but  the  man  in  possession  was  able 
to  prevent  his  opponent  landing,  and  held  the  place  till  he 
was  relieved  in  1817. 

In  1829,  the  "Cyprus,"  a  vessel  containing  some  convicts 
who  had  risen  and  murdered  the  crew,  touched  at  Tanega. 
The  "Morrison,"  which  communicated  with  Japan  shortly 
after,  heard  of  some  foreigners  who  had  landed  on  the  island 
of  Tanega  and  forcibly  carried  off  cattle. 

In  1846,  American  vessels  came  to  Nagasaki  to  beg  per- 


310  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

mission  to  trade,  and  in  1849  some  English  vessels  touched 
at  Uranga. 

The  native  record  of  events  concludes  by  stating  that  in 
1858  treaties  were  concluded  with  five  nations — American, 
English,  Dutch,  Russian,  and  Portuguese — and  that  silver 
boos  were  exchanged  for  dollars.  That  in  1859  the  Regent, 
Ee  Kamong  no  kami,  was  assassinated;  and  the  following 
year  was  that  year  in  the  cycle  in  which,  recurring  once  in 
sixty  years,  it  is  permitted  to  women  to  ascend  Fusiyama. 

The  history  of  the  empire  is  now  brought  down  to  a  very 
important  era,  when  relations  with  European  nations  are 
about  to  be  reopened,  but,  in  comparison  with  her  past  ex- 
perience, at  a  great  disadvantage  to  Japan,  in  so  far  as  she 
had  to  meet  foes  greatly  in  advance  of  herself  in  the  prac- 
tical application  of  scientific  investigation  to  the  art  of  war, 
and  when  she  allowed  herself  further  to  be  outwitted  in  the 
diplomacy  of  treaty-making.  The  wars  and  animosities  of 
European  powers  had  for  a  long  time  drawn  them  away 
from  the  East  and  concentrated  their  attention  nearer  home ; 
and  the  history  of  their  withdrawal  from  the  Eastern  Seas  is 
that  of  the  struggle  among  European  nations  for  the  su- 
premacy of  the  sea. 

The  English  retired  from  Japan  as  a  field  of  trade  about 
the  year  1623.  The  hatred  of  Holland  to  Spain  and  Portugal 
gave  vigor  to  her  efforts,  and  she  drove  their  ships  from  the 
East,  and  remained  in  possession  of  the  field,  such  as  it  was. 
By  driving  away  competitors,  however,  the  Dutch  under- 
mined their  own  position,  and  deprived  themselves  of  sup- 
port, moral  as  well  as  physical,  and  fell  gradually  into  a 
position  of  contemptible  dependence  for  the  retention  of 
a  worthless  trade. 

France  appears  to  have  made  a  feeble  attempt,  at  the 
time  when  Colbert  was  Minister,  to  open  up  a  trade  with 
Japan,  under  the  advice  probably  of  Francis  Caron,  who 
had  been  Dutch  commissioner  at  Nagasaki.  In  Chardin's 
Travels  may  be  seen  a  letter  addressed  to  the  envoy,  giving 
most  minute  instructions  as  to  his  conduct  and  treatment 


HISTORY   OF   EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  311 

of  the  Japanese.  Some  of  these  might  even  be  read  with 
benefit  by  envoys  of  the  present  day.  "You  shall  keep  your 
finest  clothes,  and  which  you  have  never  wore  in  Japan,  as 
shall  likewise  those  of  your  retainers,  till  you  are  brought 
to  court,  and  till  the  day  of  your  audience.  As  soon  as  you 
shall  arrive  there,  you  shall  cause  your  retinue  to  provide 
themselves  with  little  leather  pumps  and  slippers.  The  floors 
of  the  houses  are  covered  with  tapestry  in  Japan,  for  which 
reason  you  must  put  off  your  shoes  when  you  enter  them, 
and  have  some  without  quarters  that  you  may  quit  them 
with  greater  ease." 

The  United  States  of  America  came  late  into  the  field  in 
Japan,  but  it  may  be  said  that  the  national  action  toward 
Japan  has  had  a  wider  cosmopolitan  influence  than  any 
other  act  since  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  opening  up  of  China,  and  the  enormous  trade  which 
followed  in  opium,  silk,  and  treasure,  caused  by  steam  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  on  the 
other,  together  with  the  rapid  advance  in  steam  itself,  all 
combined  to  force  a  traffic  around  Japan,  and  to  place  these 
islands  on  the  very  highway  of  commerce.  It  became  every 
day  more  obvious  that  from  one  side  or  other,  either  from 
the  English  on  the  side  of  China,  from  the  Russians  on  the 
north,  or  from  America  on  the  east,  some  attempt  must  be 
made  before  long  to  insist  at  least  upon  some  measures  of 
civil  behavior,  if  not  of  genuine  hospitality,  being  shown 
to  vessels  which  required  assistance,  OP  which  might  be 
wrecked  upon  the  coasts  of  Japan. 

In  1846  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment to  endeavor  to  break  down,  if  possible,  the  system 
of  exclusion  kept  up  by  Japan  by  the  dispatch  of  two  vessels 
of  war,  under  Commodore  Biddle,  with  the  view  of  feeling 
the  way  toward  a  better  acquaintance  with  the  country. 
The  result  was  not  satisfactory,  the  commodore  having  been 
grossly  and  perhaps  intentionally  insulted. 

Mr.  Fillmore,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  deter- 
mined to  make  another  effort  to  break  down  the  barrier,  and 


312  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

to  make  such  a  display  as  should  shqw  the  Japanese  that  he 
was  to  a  certain  extent  in  earnest,  and  at  the  same  time  pre- 
vent any  recurrence  of  such  conduct  toward  his  envoy.  It 
is  needless  to  discuss  whether  the  Dutch  or  the  Russians  had 
any  claim  to  priority  of  action  in  the  matter.  Commodore 
Perry  has  endeavored  to  overthrow  any  such  claims;  but 
such  great  political  steps  are  seldom  the  result  of  a  sudden 
outburst  of  vigor — it  was  gradually  approached  from  all 
sides.  It  was,  as  has  been  said,  one  of  the  effects  of  the 
great  innovator,  steam,  with  other  concurring  circumstances, 
such  as  the  opening  of  China  and  California,  and  the  con- 
version of  the  Pacific  Ocean  into  a  highway  of  commerce. 
The  breaking-up  by  British  troops  of  the  sham  of  the  Chinese 
as  a  military  nation,  no  doubt  opened  the  eyes  of  Western 
nations.  Japan  lay  in  the  way.  No  nation  had  a  better 
claim  to  ask  it  to  relax  its  restrictions  upon  friendly  grounds 
than  America.  No  nation  was,  perhaps,  better  suited  to 
carry  out  the  diplomatic  part  of  such  a  proposal,  whether  the 
character  of  its  officers  as  individuals,  or  the  generally  peace- 
ful professions  on  the  part  of  the  government,  be  looked  at. 
There  can,  further,  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  United  States 
government  was  exceedingly  fortunate  or  prudent  in  its 
choice  of  the  man  for  the  work.  He  had  some  acquair^ance 
with  Orientals  learned  in  the  school  of  China,  and  he  brought 
this  to  bear  practically  upon  bis  present  work.  He  says  he 
was  convinced  that,  if  he  receded  from  any  point  which  he 
had  once  gained,  such  would  be  considered  as  an  advantage 
gained  against  him — that  first-formed  impressions  among 
such  people  carry  most  weight — that  with  people  of  forms  it 
is  necessary  to  out- Herod  Herod  in  assumed  personal  osten- 
tation and  personal  consequence — that  a  diplomatist  ought 
with  such  persons  never  to  recognize  any  personal  superi- 
ority, and  ought  always  to  keep  aloof  from  conversation  or 
intercourse  with  inferiors,  and  yet  cultivate  as  far  as  possible 
a  friendly  disposition  toward  the  people. 

Commodore  Perry  left  the  President's  letter  on  July  8, 
1853,  for  the  consideration  of  the  Japanese  government.     He 


HISTORY  OF   EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  313 

returned  in  February,  1854,  when  the  Japanese  government 
returned  for  answer  that  they  had  decided  to  accede  to  the 
propositions  of  the  President,  and  appointed  five  commis- 
sioners to  treat  with  Perry.  The  treaty  was  signed  at 
Yokohama,  and  ratifications  were  exchanged  in  February, 
1855.  Although  the  treaty  was  signed  and  the  negotiations 
brought  to  a  successful  termination,  this  was  not  accom- 
plished without  difficulty  and  even  danger,  as,  according  to 
native  accounts,  a  large  force  was  collected  on  the  hills  over- 
looking Yokohama,  under  the  command  of  different  Daimios. 
These  forces  occupied  about  fifteen  miles  of  ground  between 
Fusisawa  and  Kawasaki  to  the  number  of  a  million  of  men 
(but  numbers  are  indefinite  in  the  East).  They  seem  to  have 
suffered  a  good  deal  from  sickness  while  lying  there,  and 
were  afterward  the  subjects  of  many  jokes  and  caricatures. 
It  was  arranged  that  if  any  serious  hitch  took  place,  or  any 
appearance  of  force  was  exhibited  on  the  part  of  the  Amer- 
icans, a  large  bell  was  to  sound,  and  other  bells  were  to  take 
up  the  signal,  and  a  general  combined  attack  was  to  be 
made.  Idzu  no  Daikang  volunteered  to  kill  Perry  with  his 
own  hand,  so  deeply  does  personal  feeling  enter  into  national 
questions  in  Japan ;  but  this  he  was  ordered  not  to  attempt. 

In  1854,  during  the  Crimean  war,  Sir  James  Stirling, 
then  admiral  on  the  China  station,  with  H.M.S.  "Win- 
chester" and  a  squadron,  anchored  in  Nagasaki  with  the 
object  of  concluding  a  treaty  with  Japan.  The  last  article 
of  the  treaty  was  to  the  effect  that  "no  high  officer  coming 
after  to  Japan  should  ever  have  power  to  alter  this  treaty." 
For  this  treaty  the  admiral  received  the  thanks  of  the  nation 
through  the  House  of  Commons.  It  may  by  some  be  thought 
a  mistake  not  to  have  stood  upon  the  old  treaty  given  to 
England  by  lyeyas  in  the  seventeenth  century,  which  would 
have  been  considered  more  binding  upon  the  government  and 
upon  the  empire  than  a  treaty  made  when  the  position  of  the 
Skiogoon  was  once  more  being  questioned. 

These  treaties  were  a  step  forward,  but  had  this  step  not 
been  followed  up  they  would  soon  have  become  inoperative. 

14 


314  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

Mr.  Town  send  Harris  was  appointed  consul  for  America 
at  Simoda,  and  arrived  there  in  1856;  and  being  in  constant 
intercourse  with  the  Japanese  authorities,  he  concluded  a 
convention  by  which  further  advantages  were  gained  by  the 
Americans.  The  Japanese  government  thought  that  if  the 
further  concessions  brought  no  more  trouble  than  what  had 
resulted  from  the  little  opening  already  made,  they  might, 
without  much  danger,  open  the  sluices  a  little  more ;  and  in 
1858,  Mr.  Harris,  after  much  negotiation,  arranged  the  ar- 
ticles of  a  commercial  treaty  (based  upon  the  treaties  with 
China),  which  was  signed  by  him  and  the  Japanese  commis- 
sioners upon  July  29,  1858.  After  this  was  settled,  Holland, 
Britain,  Russia,  and  France  concluded  similar  treaties. 

The  sound  of  the  trumpets  which  had  been  blown  to 
herald  the  approach  of  the  American  squadron  to  the  shores 
of  Japan  had  reached  these  shores  long  before  the  vessels 
themselves.  The  government  was  informed  through  the 
Dutch  of  the  coming  mission.  The  American  government 
does  not  seem  to  have  intended  anything  further  than  osten- 
tatious display  in  the  number  and  size  of  the  vessels  sent. 
They  did  not  propose  to  follow  up  a  refusal  to  open  their 
doors,  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese,  by  any  warlike  opera- 
tions. But  the  Japanese  government  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  aware  of  this,  and  at  the  time  they  may  have  felt 
some  doubts  as  to  whether  their  late  treatment  of  foreigners 
did  not  call  for  some  display  of  power  on  the  part  of  Euro- 
pean nations.  Commodore  Biddle  had  been  grossly  insulted 
on  board  a  vessel  of  war.  The  crew  of  one  vessel  had  been 
very  unkindly  treated,  and,  according  to  native  report,  more 
than  one  vessel  had  recently  been  wrecked  on  the  coasts  of 
Japan,  and  the  crews  treated  with  severity  until  they  died 
out.  Until  the  squadron  should  arrive,  the  Japanese  could 
take  little  or  no  action.  But  they  waited  with  much  anxiety 
the  arrival  of  the  expedition.  It  was  considered  as  a  most 
important  event,  fraught  with  much  either  of  good  or  evil  to 
the  country — which  was  it  to  be? 

There  is  a  pamphlet,  published  hi  Yedo,  which  professes 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  315 

to  give  some  account  of  the  doings  in  Japan  at  this  time, 
and  which  is  interesting  as  showing  the  internal  state  of 
Japan  at  this  most  critical  time  in  her  history,  and  the  feel- 
ings with  which  the  proposed  opening  of  the  country  was 
viewed  by  different  political  parties.  The  views  of  the  Em- 
peror are  set  forth ;  the  daring  acts  of  the  Regent  in  support 
of  his  own  position;  the  intrigues  set  on  foot  against  him, 
ending  in  his  assassination,  and  the  subsequent  train  of 
events  which  followed  thereon,  and  which  have  led  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  Shiogoon's  position  and  the  restoration  of 
the  Emperor  to  the  power  originally  held  in  the  imperial 
bands.  The  letters  may  appear  to  be  tedious,  but  they  show 
the  working  of  the  government  more  clearly  perhaps  than  a 
simple  description  would  do.  The  country  was  threatened 
with  internal  disturbance,  and  there  were  two  parties  divided 
upon  the  point  of  a  successor  to  the  Shiogoon,  who  was 
weakly  in  mind  and  body — worn  out  and  epileptic.  As 
leader  of  the  one  party  was  Ee  Kamong  no  kami,  the  head 
of  the  Fudai  Daimios,  and  having  a  certain  right  to  be  ap- 
pointed Regent  in  case  of  necessity.  He  seems  to  have  been 
a  clever,  bold  man,  to  Western  ideas  unscrupulous  in  the 
means  by  which  he  attained  his  ends.  At  the  head  of  the 
other  party  was  Mito,  one  of  the  "three  families,"  hereditary 
vice-Shiogoon  in  Yedo,  and  connected  by  marriage  with  the 
families  of  the  Emperor  and  the  highest  Koongays  in  Miako, 
and  with  the  wealthiest  Daimios — a  shrewd,  clever,  schem- 
ing old  man.  What  follows  must  be  considered  a  mere 
imperfect  sketch  of  what  the  pamphlet  contains. 

The  name  of  the  pamphlet  is  a  play  upon  the  name  Mito, 
meaning  Water-door — Midzu  Kara  Kori.  "Water-machines 
make,"  or  "A  machine  made  at  Mito."  The  Regent  (whose 
name,  Ee,  means  "a  well")  wished  to  take  out,  as  with  a 
bucket,  the  water  in  the  well  and  divide  it — i.e.,  to  break 
down  the  power  of  Mito. 

The  pamphlet  commences  by  stating  by  way  of  "con- 
tents" that  the  Regent  sent  Manabay  Simosa  no  kami  to 
Miako  to  seize  Takatskasa,  the  highest  officer  of  the  empire, 


316  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

the  Kwanbakku  and  his  son  Daif  u  dono,  and  Awata,  a  young 
relative  of  the  Emperor,  and  at  the  time  the  head  of  the 
Buddhists —and  that  these  high  officers  were  all  put  into 
confinement,  and  that  all  this  trouble  had  its  origin  at  Mito.. 
The  source  of  the  Tokungawa — i.e.,  the  line  of  lyeyas,  or 
the  government  by  the  family  of  lyeyas— is  very  clear,  but 
this  work  will  show  how  Mito  tried  to  make  it  impure.  The 
book  was  published  in  the  spring  of  1860.  The  name  of  the 
author  is  "Every  one  drunk." 

The  anticipated  arrival  of  the  United  States  squadron  was 
agitating  the  rulers  of  Japan,  and  parties  were  divided  as  to 
the  reception  which  should  be  given  it.  There  was  probably 
some  political  source  of  discord  besides  this,  connected  more 
or  less  with  the  office  of  Shiogoon,  which  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  an  epileptic  imbecile.  It  would  appear  that  in  1854 
letters  were  sent  to  all  the  Daimios  and  Ometskis,  requiring 
them  to  give  their  opinions  as  to  the  reception  which  should 
be  given  to  the  squadron,  and  whether  the  Americans  should 
be  repelled  by  force,  or  whether  a  trial  should  be  made  of  a 
limited  intercourse  with  foreigners,  under  the  impression  that 
if  it  was  not  found  to  work  satisfactorily  the  ports  might 
again  be  closed,  and  the  country  might  return  to  its  old  state 
of  seclusion.  The  answers  sent  showed  that  they  were 
divided  into  a  large  majority  for  repelling  them,  by  force 
of  arms  if  necessary,  and  a  small  minority  who  were  for 
admitting  foreigners  to  trade.  All  agreed  that  it  was  a 
question  of  peace  or  war,  but  many  thought  that  whether 
it  was  to  be  the  one  or  the  other,  no  answer  should  be  sent 
until  time  was  obtained  to  put  the  shores  and  batteries  into 
a  state  of  defense.  At  present,  they  alleged,  the  coasts  were 
weak  and  defenseless,  and  "if  Japan  does  not  conquer  it  will 
be  a  great  disgrace,  and  the  country  will  be  defiled.  But, 
high  and  low,  all  must  be  unanimous."  In  the  first  place, 
it  must  be  ascertained  how  many  men  each  Daimio  can  mus- 
ter, and  the  strength  of  each  in  guns,  ammunition,  etc.  In 
1854,  in  the  tenth  month,  the  Ometskis  sent  letters  to  all  the 
Daimios  to  obtain  information  on  this  head. 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  317 

In  1855,  in  the  9th  month,  the  Shiogoon  sent  a  commis- 
sion to  Mito,  ordering  him  to  put  all  the  coasts  of  the  country 
into  a  defensible  position.  The  care  of  the  forts  along  the 
shore  was  to  be  committed  to  Mito.  The  forts  and  guns 
were  to  be  examined.  The  Shiogoon  wrote — "You  have 
hitherto  come  to  me  three  times  every  month,  now  I  wish 
you  to  report  to  me  every  second  day  what  is  doing." 

From  published  documents,  it  appears  by  the  Emperor's 
own  letter,  22d  day  of  the  2d  month,  1858,  in  corroboration 
of  what  is  stated  in  the  pamphlet  quoted,  "that  this  matter 
was  discussed  before  him  by  the  Kwanbakku  (Koozio  dono), 
the  Taiko,  or  previous  Kwanbakku  (Takatskasa),*  and  the 
Tenso.  It  appears  that  the  old  Taiko  pleaded  as  an  excuse 
that  he  was  unwell,  but  as  the  Mikado  sent  several  times  to 
command  his  attendance,  he  was  obliged  to  come.  At  the 
conference  the  Taiko  expressed  an  opinion  contrary  to  that 
of  the  others,  which  had  been  given  in  favor  of  the  course 
advocated  by  the  Shiogoon.  The  Mikado  was  very  angry" 
(with  these  others).,  "and  it  was  with  difficulty  the  Kwan- 
bakku succeeded  in  pacifying  him.  On  the  23d  a  document 
bearing  the  refusal  of  the  Mikado  to  the  treaty  was  written 
out.  Then  three  officers  went  to  the  residence  of  Hotta,  the 
Shiogoon's  first  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  Envoy  to 
Miako,  to  obtain  the  Mikado's  consent  to  the  American 
treaty,  and  informed  him  of  the  document  hereunder.  The 
messengers  sent  by  (to?)  the  Mikado  were  afflicted,  and  shed 
tears  because  they  did  not  succeed." 

The  Mikado  wrote  to  the  Shiogoon :  "23d,  2d  mo.,  1858.— 
It  is  difficult  for  us  to  grant  you  the  approval  you  ask"  (to 
the  treaties).  "For  the  honor  of  the  name  of  the  first  Mikado 
it  is  impossible  to  agree  to  it. 

"It  is  our  duty  to  take  care  to  trauquilize  the  minds  of 
our  people. 

"The  Shiogoon  should  gather  every  one's  opinion,  from 


*  "Whose  retainers  and  secretary  the  Regent  had  arrested 
and  brought  to  Yedo. 


318  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

the  three  great  houses  to  the  humblest  subject,  and  give  ine 
the  result  in  writing. 

"If  it  is  necessary  to  ...  conclude  these  treaties"  (i.e., 
if  it  is  impossible  to  go  back  from  what  has  been  done), 
"exception  must  be  made  of  the  country  in  the  neighborhood 
of  my  imperial  city,  as  we  have  already  directed  in  our  letter, 
24th  of  the  12th  month.  [The  opening  of]  Hiogo  in  Sitsu 
must  be  excepted  if  possible. 

"The  Mikado  often  considers  that  he  is  not  safe  in  his 
palace  at  Miako,  and  he  directs  the  Shiogoon  to  appoint  some 
powerful  Daimios  to  protect  the  imperial  palace. 

"You  have  thought  it  well  to  open  the  ports  to  foreigners, 
but  you  did  not  think  that  foreigners  would  entangle  you 
with  difficulties. 

"We  would  know  your  opinion  in  this  respect." 

This  was  evidently  considered  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the 
Emperor  to  accede  to  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty.  There  is 
not  much  appearance  of  what  is  by  a  commentator  called 
"puppetism"  in  the  position  of  the  Emperor  when  he,  stand- 
ing here  almost  alone  in  his  council  of  bribed  and  intriguing 
officers,  who  were  all  in  the  pay  of  the  Regent  at  Yedo,  still 
manfully  keeps  them  all  at  bay,  and,  assisted  only  by  his 
faithful  old  minister  the  Taiko,  whose  attendance  he  is 
obliged  to  command,  refuses  to  accede  to  the  course  of  ex- 
pediency pressed  upon  him  by  such  meanness.  He  not  only 
refuses,  but  he  warns  them  from  his  lofty  position  of  the  pit 
which  he  foresees  they  are  digging  for  themselves.  The 
Taiko,  probably  for  his  conduct  and  words  at  this  meeting, 
was  put  by  the  Regent  in  confinement  in  his  own  house,  and 
was  only  released  after  the  fall  of  this  minister. 

Then  follows  a  document,  a  "Circular  from  the  Shiogoon, 
the  6th  month  of  1858,  by  Kooze  yamato  no  kami. 

"The  Mikado  having  been  consulted  by  the  Shiogoon 's 
government  about  the  making  of  treaties  with  foreigners,  he 
answered  that  the  conclusion  of  that  matter  would  distress 
him  very  much. 

"Thereupon    the    Shiogoon    requested  all  to  send  their 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  319 

written  opinion  upon  the  subject.  Only  a  short  time  was 
required  to  gather  every  one's  opinion ;  but,  in  the  mean- 
time, some  Russian  and  American  men-of-war  came  here, 
bringing  the  news  that  in  a  short  time  English  and  French 
men-of-war  would  arrive  here ;  that  these  two  nations  had 
fought  and  won  many  battles  in  China;  that  they  would 
come  here  in  the  same  warlike  spirit,  and  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  negotiate  with  them.  The  American  embas- 
sador  offered  to  us,  that  if  we  would  make  a  temporary 
treaty  with  him,  as  soon  as  we  should  have  signed  and 
given  him  that  treaty  he  would  act  as  mediator  between 
us  and  the  French  and  English,  and  could  save  us  from 
all  difficulties. 

"It  was  impossible  for  us  to  comply  with  this  without 
consultation  with  the  Mikado.  However,  Inoe  Sinano  no 
kami,  fearing  the  immediate  assault  (or  breaking  out  of  a 
war),  the  results  of  which  might  be  the  same  as  in  China, 
signed  themselves,  as  men  authorized  to  sign  [this  ex- 
pression is  somewhat  suspicious],  the  American  treaty  at 
Kanagawa,  which  treaty  was  given  up  to  the  American 
embassador. 

"Necessity  compelled  the  Japanese  to  do  this. 

"The  Mikado,  on  hearing  of  this,  was  much  troubled,  but 
to  reassure  him  we  told  him  we  would  fortify  our  shores." 

Then  further  follows  a  document  written  by  several  of 
the  Koongays  in  Miako:  . 

"At  this  time  there  are  great  changes  taking  place  in  our 
holy  country  in  respect  to  foreigners.  However,  it  is  not  for 
us  ignorant  people  to  judge,  and  for  that  reason  we  lately 
wrote  twice  to  the  Mikado.  We  hoped  that  he  would  con- 
sider the  subject. 

"We  write  to  him  once  more.  Since  the  time  of  Tensio 
dai  jin  the  country  has  been  to  the  present  time  sublime  and 
nourishing;  but  friendship  with  foreigners  will  be  a  stain 
upon  it,  and  an  insult  to  the  first  Mikado  (Zinmu).  It  will 
be  an  everlasting  shame  for  the  country  to  be  afraid  of  those 
foreigners,  and  for  us  to  bear  patiently  their  arbitrary  and 


320  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

rough  manners ;  and  the  time  will  come  when  we  shall  be 
subservient  to  them.  This  is  the  fault  of  the  dynasty  of  the 
Shiogoon.  It  is  reported  that  the  Shiogoon  has  sent  to  Miako 
to  consult  the  Mikado  about  the  treaties,  but  it  is  impossiblo 
to  believe  it.  Hotta  will  return  to  Yedo  and  say  that  the 
Mikado  has  consented  to  give  him  a  secret  authorization, 
and  he  will  thus  induce  the  other  Daimios  to  follow  the 
party  of  the  Shiogoon.  The  Shiogoon  thus  disturbs  peace. 
If  foreigners  come  to  our  country  they  will  loudly  proclaim 
the  mutual  benefits  that  trade  will  produce,  but  at  home 
they  will  think  only  of  vile  profit;  and  when  we  shall  re- 
fuse to  comply  with  all  their  wishes,  they  will  threaten  us 
with  their  artillery  and  men-of-war.  They  intend  to  take 
Japan,  and  to  effect  this  will  resort  to  any  kind  of  deep 
scheme  in  their  negotiations.  It  is  earnestly  wished  that 
the  Mikado  order  that  the  Daimios  from  the  'three  fami- 
lies' to  the  lowest  give  their  vote  upon  the  subject."  The 
Daimios  gave  their  vote,  and  they  were  generally  in  favor 
of  exclusion  of  foreign  nations,  and  of  adhering  to  their 
old  way. 

In  1857,  on  the  28th  day  of  the  12th  month,  Hino  came 
to  Yedo  from  Miako,  as  bearer  of  a  letter  from  the  Emperor 
addressed  to  the  Shiogoon. 

"Your  duty  is  to  act  as  Shiogoon;  and  yet  you,  being  Se 
i  dai  Shiogoon  [barbarian -quelling  commander-in-chief],  are 
unable  to  perform  your  duties.  .You  ought  to  know  what 
the  duties  of  that  office  are,  and  yet  our  foreign  enemies 
(eeteki)  you  are  unable  to  punish.  You  have  many  high 
officers  with  you,  and  this  matter  is  one  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance ;  therefore  I  wish  you  to  come  as  soon  as  you  can 
to  Miako.  If  you  are  unable  to  come  on  account  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  empire,  then  you  must  dispatch  some  able  and 
experienced  officers,  that  I  may  hear  myself  what  is  doing. 
At  the  present  moment  all  Daimio,  Shomio  and  Shonin  (peo- 
ple) are  in  perplexity.  Why  is  this?  It  is  because  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Shiogoon  office  does  not  go  straight.  On  this 
account  I  have  every  day  great  trouble,  and  therefore  I 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  321 

have  commanded  Koojio  Kwanbakku  to  send  Hino,  and  to 
communicate  orally  with  you." 

(This  letter  is  supposed  by  some  not  to  have  been  written 
by  the  Emperor,  but  to  have  been  a  forgery  by  the  Koku 
shiu  and  higher  Daimios.) 

Mito,  in  1855,  had  been  very  active  and  serviceable  in 
telling  the  other  Daimios  that  it  was  all  very  well  to  talk 
of  fighting,  but  that  they  must  first  know  what  means  they 
had.  He  had  been  appointed  to  look  after  the  defenses  of 
the  empire.  It  may  be  presumed  that  the  more  powerful 
of  the  opposite  party  were  annoyed  with  his  obtaining  this 
appointment,  and  with  showing  them  their  weaknesses,  and 
had  cabaled  against  him  under  the  headship  of  Ee  Kamong 
no  kami. 

On  the  29th  day  of  the  12th  month  of  1857,  the  letter 
was  given  by  Hino  to  the  Shiogoon ;  and  the  same  night  a 
meeting  of  all  Daimios  was  held  in  the  Siro  jo  in,  a  large 
hall  in  the  castle  of  Yedo.  The  deliberations  were  not  over 
till  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  30th. 

In  1858,  on  the  23d  day  of  the  4th  month,  Ee  Kamong  no 
kami  was  appointed  Regent  (Gotairo).  He  was  a  Sho  sho 
or  major-general,  and  had  been  brought  up  while  a  boy  as 
a  Buddhist  priest.  Probably  by  this  time  the  Shiogoon  was 
become  quite  imbecile,  and  it  became  necessary  to  appoint  a 
regent.  Ee,  being  of  an  age  and  capacity  fit  for  the  situa- 
tion, had  the  first  claim.  He  seems  to  have  all  along  taken 
a  side  opposed  to  Mito,  probably  arising  out  of  attempts  to 
obtain  this  office;  and  as  Mito  was  strenuously  opposed  to 
the  admission  of  foreigners,  Ee  took  the  opposite  side,  and 
declared  for  the  new  state  of  things. 

On  the  6th  day  of  the  7th  month  a  communication  was 
made  to  Owarri,  the  first  of  the  "three  families,"  to  the 
effect  that  "the  Shiogoon  regrets  to  have  to  notice  the  con- 
duct of  Owarri,  and  that  he  cannot  longer  hold  friendly 
communication  with  him.  It  is  the  will  of  the  Shiogoon 
that  Owarri  in  future  shall  confine  himself  to  his  house  at 
Toyama  in  Yedo,  and  abstain  from  official  business,  and 


322  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

that  he  shall  not  speak  to  any  one.  That,  further,  all  his 
territories  shall  be  confiscated,  and  they  are  handed  over  to 
his  relative,  Matzdaira  Setsu  no  kami,"  who  was  then  a 
child. 

To  Mito  a  somewhat  similar  communication  was  made, 
and  ordering  him  to  confine  himself  in  his  house  at  Koma 
(ngome  near  Oji). 

These  commands,  dictated  by  the  Regent,  were  forthwith 
carried  into  execution.  The  smaller  OmetsM  were  appointed 
to  see  that  such  sentences  were  carried  out.  One  result  was 
that  a  great  number  of  the  poorer  retainers  of  these  chiefs 
were  thrown  on  the  country  as  "floating  men,"  or  Ronins, 
with  their  two  swords  to  gain  themselves  a  livelihood. 

To  Kongo  Tango  no  kami,  member  of  the  Wakatoshi 
yori,  a  similar  letter  was  sent,  and  he  was  deprived  of  the 
half  of  his  territory  and  confined  to  his  house. 

In  addition  to  these,  Ishikawa  Tosa  no  kami  was  fined 
the  half  of  his  territory,  and  a  doctor  to  the  Shiogoon,  Hoka 
Riki,  was  turned  out  of  his  office  and  all  his  property  taken 
from  him.  But  his  son  was  presented  with  250  piculs  of 
rice  per  annum,  as  he  had  shown  himself  on  the  side  of  the 
Regent. 

(There  is  no  mention  in  this  work  of  similar  treatment 
being  shown  to  the  great  lords,  Satsuma,  Tosa  and  Etsizen.) 

On  the  8th  day  of  the  8th  month,  the  name  of  Harutaka, 
son  of  Kii  dainagoon,  was  changed  to  lyay  mutchi.  This  is 
the  boy  whom  the  Regent  and  his  party  had  put  into  the 
place  of  power,  the  Shiogoon  having  been  dead  for  some 
time.  It  was  given  out  that  he  was  unwell,  and  the  Regent 
had  been  taking  means  to  strengthen  his  position  against 
Mito.  Mito  claimed  the  place  for  his  own  son,  who  had 
been  adopted  by  Stotsbashi,  who  was  the  third  son  of  the 
ninth  Shiogoon.  The  youth  who  succeeded  was  the  nearest 
heir,  according  to  European  ideas;  and  Mito's  claim  had  the 
defect,  that  if  adoption  carried  the  full  consequences  which 
he  wished  it  should,  it  militated  against  himself. 

The  9th  day  of  the  9th  month  was  the  day  chosen  for  the 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE    CONTINUED.  323 

nominal  death  of  the  Shiogoon.  Ee  Kamong  no  kami  was 
much  with  the  late  Shiogoon  before  his  death,  and  gave  out 
that  he  had  ordered  him  to  act  as  Regent  during  the  young 
man's  minority. 

Manabay  Simosa  no  kami,  one  of  the  Cabinet,  was  sent 
by  the  Regent  to  carry  out  his  schemes  in  Miako.  He  re- 
turned in  the  12th  month,  and  a  few  days  after  his  return 
abdicated  his  honors  and  his  territory. 

Hotta,  who  had  acted  as  envoy  from  the  Regent  to  Miako, 
was  degraded.  On  the  26th  day  of  the  llth  month,  the  two 
highest  officers,  Koo  jio  dono  the  Kwanbakku,  and  M  jio 
dono  Nai  dai  jin,  came  to  Yedo  as  envoys  from  the  Emperor. 

On  the  1st  day  of  the  12th  month  the  title  of  "Se  i  dai 
Shiogoon"  was  conferred  on  Se  i  sho  sama  lyaymutchi  by 
the  Emperor,  by  the  hands  of  two  chokushi  or  envoys.  The 
Empress  also  sent  an  envoy  to  the  Shiogoon  to  compliment 
him  upon  his  obtaining  the  title,  and  perhaps  also  to  lay  the 
first  proposal  as  to  his  marrying  the  Emperor's  younger 
sister  Kadsumia. 

During  the  12th  month,  Manabay  went  down  to  Miako 
with  orders  to  Ishigaya  Inaba  no  kami,  one  of  the  gover- 
nors of  Miako,  to  seize  the  following  persons :  Ee  kai  kitchi, 
the  gentleman  in  charge  of  Mito's  house  in  Miako,  and  his 
son ;  three  gentlemen,  retainers  in  the  service  of  the  Kwan- 
bakku Takatskasa  dono,  and  the  son  of  one  of  them,  and  a 
teacher  of  Chinese  in  Miako ;  Matzdaira  Tanba  no  kami,  a 
Daimio,  related  by  marriage  to  Satsuma.  His  territory  was 
taken  from  him  and  given  to  a  child  (Matzdaira  Toki  no 
skay).  This  child's  followers  were,  after  the  Regent's  death, 
put  in  charge  of  the  British  Legation  at  Tozenji ;  also  a  re- 
tainer of  this  Daimio  and  his  secretary.  These  were  all 
seized  by  order  of  the  Regent,  and  sent  to  Yedo  for  trial 
before  the  Jeesha  boonyo,  the  judges  in  the  Hio  jo  sho. 

In  the  1st  month  of  the  following  year — i.e.,  about  March, 
1859 — several  of  the  gentlemen  about  the  court  in  the  service 
of  the  members  of  the  imperial  family  and  others  of  very 
high  rank  were  arrested.  Three  of  these  were  retainers  of 


324  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Sanjio  dono,  of  Arisungawa  mia,  and  of  Saiwonji  dono  re- 
spectively. Two  retainers  of  the  nephew  of  the  Emperor, 
the  Buddhist  high-priest  and  the  secretary  of  the  Kwan- 
bakku,  were  ordered  to  be  sent  up  to  Yedo.  Within  two 
months  after  this,  seven  high  Koongays  and  four  ladies, 
with  seventeen  more  of  the  persons  about  the  court,  were 
all  sent  to  Yedo  by  orders  of  Ee  Kamoug  no  kami. 

In  1859,  on  the  2d  day,  3d  month,  Itakura  Suwo  no 
kami,  one  of  the  Jeesha  boonyo  (temple  lords  acting  as 
judges)  was  degraded.  His  crime  was,  that,  being  judge 
in  rotation  in  the  Hio  jo  sho  in  Yedo  when  these  prisoners 
were  brought  before  him,  he  would  not  bring  them  in  guilty 
of  anything,  as  he  did  not  fear  the  Regent,  and  he  had  been 
requested  secretly  by  the  Emperor  not  to  gratify  him.  At 
the  same  time  Tsuchiya,  governor  of  Osaka,  was  degraded 
and  removed.  He  was  an  illegitimate  son  of  Mito. 

In  the  year  1858,  before  these  strong  measures  had  been 
taken  by  the  Regent,  Mito  had  written  to  the  Emperor  in  the 
8th  month  to  the  following  effect:  "Your  revenue  is  not 
large  enough,  which  is  the  cause  of  much  sorrow  to  me. 
Permit  me  to  present  you  with  a  few  kobangs;  and  if  it  is 
in  your  power,  please  give  to  the  Kwanbakku  Koozio  dono 
some  additional  land,  and  all  the  Koongays  and  those  about 
the  court  who  have  titles  [I  give  ?]  20,000  kobangs  among 
them;  and  as  Hirohashi  is  very  diligent  and  able,  I  present 
him  with  silver." 

It  may  be  presumed  that  with  the  system  of  espionage  so 
perfected  as  it  is  in  Japan,  the  Regent  would  soon  find  out 
that  Mito  was  intriguing  at  Miako,  and  probably  got  a  copy 
of  this  letter  before  he  gave  orders  to  seize  the  persons  above 
named,  who  were  all  implicated  in  these  intrigues  against 
him. 

In  the  year  1858,  in  the  8th  month,  the  Shiogoon  (or  the 
Regent  more  truly)  sent  three  Daimios  as  envoys  to  Mito, 
with  a  letter  to  the  following  effect: 

"You,  Mito,  formerly  were  anxious  to  assist  Japan  in  her 
troubles,  and  your  reasons  for  so  doing  were  very  good.  But 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  325 

the  Shiogoon  does  not  approve  of  your  recent  conduct." 
(Mito  had  written  to  the  Emperor,  with  whom  he  was  con- 
nected by  marriage,  to  complain  of  the  boy  from  the  Kii 
family  having  been  made  Shiogoon,  on  the  ground  of  his 
being  too  young  for  the  office,  but  in  reality  to  get  his  own 
son  appointed  by  the  Emperor  to  the  place.)  "You  have 
spoken  to  the  Emperor  too  much  about  the  adopted  son  of 
Kii.  Further,  you  have  sent  letters  to  the  Koongays  and 
members  of  the  imperial  family  to  gain  them  over  to  your 
views;  and  you,  a  man  of  rank,  have  not  scrupled  to  use 
low  men  [Ronins]  to  carry  letters  to  Miako,  inveighing 
against  the  government  of  Yedo.  From  these  acts  of  yours 
great  confusion  has  arisen.  The  Emperor  has  written  a  let- 
ter to  the  Shiogoon,  and  low  men  have  been  used  as  the 
bearers  [?  to  insult  the  Yedo  government].  You  have  tried 
to  stir  up  a  quarrel  between  the  Emperor  and  the  Kubosama, 
and  have  excited  discord  among  the  Koongays.  It  is  a  most 
improper  thing  for  you  thus  to  be  acting  behind  our  back, 
and  in  the  dark."  (Mito  had  sent  many  letters  to  the  Fudai 
Daimios  and  Yakonins  to  gain  them  over  to  the  side  of  Stots- 
bashi.)  "You  must  suffer  a  severe  punishment.  But  as  it 
is  now  the  time  of  Hoji"  (i.e.,  the  canonization  of  the  late 
Shiogoon),  "we  are  willing  to  view  your  crime  with  leni- 
ency. Your  punishment  is,  that  you  be  henceforth  impris- 
oned in  your  room  [cheekio].  This  letter  I  intrust  to  the 
care  of  your  son,  to  be  delivered  to  you." 

At  the  same  time  a  letter  was  sent  to  Mito's  son  and 
heir,  of  tenor  as  follows: 

"Your  father  has  been  carrying  on  secret  intrigues  at 
Miako.  He  has  sent  many  of  his  servants  there  upon  highly 
important  missions.  But  all  his  intrigues  have  been  against 
the  Shiogoon  secretly,  and,  as  it  were,  behind  his  back.  The 
ways  of  father  and  son"  (i.e.,  the  son  cannot  help  what  his 
father  does)  "are  different,  but  I  think  you  may  follow  a 
better  way  than  your  father.  If  you  have  no  better  way, 
you  must  send  guards  to  keep  your  father,  and  prevent 
his  carrying  on  these  intrigues.  The  crime  of  putting 


326  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

himself  in  opposition  to  the  Shiogoon  is  very  great,  and 
merits  severe  punishment.  But  you  side  with  your  father, 
and  it  is  natural  for  you  to  do  so  from  filial  obedience.  But 
for  this  crime  your  father  must  be  removed  from  his  position 
and  territory." 

On  the  27th  day  of  the  8th  month  a  letter  was  sent  to  the 
principal  one  of  the  retainers,  the  Karo,  or  minister  of  Mito. 
"Your  master  has  been  engaged  in  very  dangerous  schemes 
and  intrigues,  of  which  you  were  ignorant."  (Mito  had 
written  a  letter  to  say  that  all  the  Daimios  gave  themselves 
up  to  trifling  and  debauchery.)  "You  were  very  foolish  if 
you  did  not  know  of  this  business,  and  you  ought  on  that 
account  to  be  severely  punished.  But  as  Mito,  your  master, 
said  that  this  business  in  which  he  was  engaged  was  entirely 
for  the  good  of  the  empire  of  Japan,  and  of  the  greatest  con- 
sequence, your  punishment  shall  be  mitigated.  In  future 
you  will  take  care  to  look  into  what  your  master  is  doing, 
and  not  cause  the  government  of  the  Shiogoon  so  much 
trouble. 

"In  future,  if  you  do  cause  trouble,  you  shall  be  severely 
punished." 

It  appeared  that  both  parties  were  trying  to  gain  over  the 
Kwanbakku  by  bribes — the  Regent  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Mito  on  the  other.  This  high  officer  was  perplexed  which 
to  side  with,  but  he  concealed  all  from  the  Emperor. 

The  Shiogoon  commanded  a  letter  to  be  written  to  Mito, 
to  inform  him  that  government  was  aware  that  many  men 
had  come  secretly  to  Yedo  from  Mito,  and  warning  him  of 
what  would  be  the  consequence  if  any  trouble  should  arise; 
and  at  the  same  time  eight  Daimios  were  appointed  to  guard 
the  approaches  to  the  city. 

At  this  time  the  Regent  was  maturing  his  plans,  and 
having  arrested  many  of  the  agents  of  Mito,  brought  them 
before  the  Hio  jo  sho  and  judges  of  Yedo.  The  personal 
enmity  of  the  two  was  working  for  the  opening  up  of  the 
country  to  foreign  trade. 

Many  persons,  some  of  whom  were  connected  with  the 


HISTORY   OF   EMPIRE    CONTINUED.  327 

highest  officers  in  Miako  and  Yedo,  were  arrested  as  being 
engaged  with  Mito  in  intrigues.  The  head  retainer  of  Mito 
v«ras  kept  in  confinement,  and  was  commanded  to  kill  him- 
yylf  in  prison;*  Eekai,  the  gentleman  in  charge  of  Mito's 
house  in  Miako,  with  his  third  son,  the  head  chamberlain  of 
Mito's  establishment,  the  gentleman  in  the  service  of  the  late 
Kwanbakku,  the  Chinese  teacher,  and  a  lady  about  the  estab- 
lishment of  Konoyay  dono,  in  Miako,  were  brought  before 
the  judges  in  the  Hio  jio  sho  Hoki  no  kami,  and  the  two  city 
magistrates,  Ishingaya  and  Ikeda.f  Of  the  prisoners,  the 
three  first  were  beheaded. 

On  the  8th  month,  20th  day,  the  following  letter  was  sent 
to  Nakayama  Bizen  no  kami,  who  was  a  Hattamoto  in  the 
service  of  government,  resident  at  Mito's  castle  to  assist  him 
(or  to  watch  him).  Officers  with  the  same  duties  reside  at 
the  castles  of  the  other  two  Sankay,  Owarri  and  Kii : 


*  The  mode  of  suicide  common  in  Japan  may  be  noticed 
here.  It  is  called  by  the  natives  literally  to  "cut  the  belly." 
The  name  "happy  dispatch"  seems  to  have  been  a  felicitous 
suggestion  of  some  foreigner.  It  is  said  to  be  done  by  a  cut 
across  the  abdomen,  and  sometimes  another  cut  is  said  to  be 
made  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  But  any  one  who  knows  any- 
thing of  the  subject  will  think  this  nearly  an  impossibility, 
from  the  extreme  difficulty  of  making  the  two  other  cuts 
necessary  to  make  a  cross.  This  would  be  a  very  butcher- 
ing and  trying  job,  and  would  bring  on  only  a  lingering 
death.  So  far  as  can  be  judged  from  the  way  it  is  per- 
formed in  theaters,  the  knife,  a  short  well-sharpened  instru- 
ment, is  inserted  into  the  abdomen,  and  then  drawn  across 
the  backbone,  so  as  to  sever  the  great  blood-vessels,  the  aorta 
and  ascending  vein,  which  are  there  of  such  a  size  as  to  allow 
of  death  from  their  division  in  a  few  seconds.  There  seems 
to  be  no  drawing  across  the  abdomen.  What  is  called  swal- 
lowing gold  leaf  in  China  is  in  reality  inhaling  it  when  rubbed 
to  a  sort  of  flaky  powder.  It  seems  to  choke  the  air-vessels, 
and  so  produce  suffocation. 

f  Afterward  assassinated  by  his  servant,  an  emissary  of 
Mito,  who  had  got  into  the  office  as  clerk,  and  kept  Mito 
informed  of  all  that  transpired. 


328  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

"Your  house  is  a  very  honorable  one,  and  you  are  a  man 
of  talent  and  experience.  You  ought  to  attend  more  cor- 
rectly to  do  your  duty.  Now  you  have  been  neglecting 
your  duty,  while  Mito  the  elder  has  been  intriguing  at  Miako 
against  me.  You  are  ignorant  of  what  is  going  on,  and 
show  yourself  to  be  very  indolent.  This  is  a  harsh  mode  of 
speaking,  but  you  are  still  very  young.  You  are  hereby 
ordered  to  consider  yourself  under  arrest,  and  remain  a 
prisoner  in  your  own  room." 

Toki,  a  colonel  of  the  Household  Guards,  was  degraded 
from  his  rank,  and  his  territory  confiscated. 

To  the  Sakuji  boonyo,  Iwase,  and  to  the  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty,  Nangai,  it  was  ordered  that  their  salaries 
were  to  be  stopped  from  that  date. 

The  same  punishment  was  inflicted  upon  Kawadsi,  the 
keeper  of  the  "West  Castle.  To  the  Kosho,  his  eldest  grand- 
son, it  was  written: 

"Your  grandfather  has  been  guilty  of  opposing  the  gov- 
ernment, and  has  been  degraded  and  deprived  of  his  terri- 
tory, and  ordered  to  confine  himself  to  his  room.  Therefore 
it  is  our  will  that  you  take  possession  of  his  territory,  and 
also  of  his  office." 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  Regent's  policy  always  to  put 
in  children  in  place  of  those  men  whom  he  displaced. 

The  other  keeper  of  the  West  Castle  was  degraded,  and 
deprived  both  of  his  territory  and  office. 

To  Tayki  no  skay,  commander  of  the  vanguard  of  the 
army,  son  of  Oodo,  it  was  written:  "Having  examined  into 
the  offense  of  your  father,  I  have  degraded  him ;  but  you 
are  his  adopted  son,  and  therefore  I  give  to  you  his  territory 
and  house." 

Of  other  high  officers  some  were  beheaded,  while  others 
were  ordered  not  to  enter  a  town  (Chu  tsui  ho) ;  others  were 
imprisoned  in  their  own  houses  (Oshi  kome),  or  in  prison; 
others  were  put  in  irons ;  others  confined  to  one  room  for  life 
(ay  chikio) ;  others  were  banished  to  small  islands. 

All  the  above,  who  were  themselves  persons  of  some  rank, 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  329 

and  connected  with  the  highest  in  the  empire,  were  brought 
to  the  Hio  jo  sho,  in  Yedo,  and  received  their  sentences  from 
the  temple  lords  sitting  there. 

To  Hongo  Tango  no  kami,  at  that  time  in  the  Lower 
Cabinet,  the  Shiogoon  wrote: 

"Your  conduct  recently  has  been  very  improper.  The 
Shiogoon  has  heard  of  this,  and  you  deserve  to  be  severely 
punished;  but  I  will  be  lenient,  and  only  deprive  you  of 
5,000  koku  of  revenue,  and  degrade  you."  (He  had  been 
made  a  Daimio,  with  10,000  koku  of  revenue,  by.  the  previ- 
ous Shiogoon.)  To  his  son  the  Shiogoon  wrote  as  above,  but 
added :  "I  will  now  take  the  ground  I  took  from  your  father, 
reducing  him  from  a  Daimio  to  a  Hattamoto.  Your  father 
must  stay  in  his  house,  and  retire  from  public  life,  and  give 
over  his  lands  and  rank  to  you." 

To  Ishikawa  Tosa  no  kami  a  similar  letter  was  written, 
depriving  him  of  his  honors  and  territory,  which  were  given 
to  his  son. 

The  head  of  the  Treasury,  Sassaki  Sinano  no  kami,  was 
degraded. 

lyo  no  ske,  a  gentleman  in  the  service  of  Mito,  was  trans- 
ported to  Hatchi  jio.  His  son,  being  only  three  years  of  age, 
is  to  be  kept  till  he  is  fifteen,  and  then  transported  also. 

Two  boys,  aged  four  and  two  years,  sons  of  Mito's  cham- 
berlain, are  to  be  expelled  from  towns  when  they  arrive  at 
fifteen  years  of  age. 

The  Regent,  after  thus  disposing  of  his  enemies,  pro- 
ceeded, in  the  name  of  the  Shiogoon,  to  reward  his 
friends. 

He  wrote  to  Matzdaira  Idzumi  no  kami,  then  the  head 
of  the  Cabinet:  "I  approve  of  what  you  have  done,  and  in 
testimony  I  give  you  twenty-five  obangs.  [An  obang  is  a 
large  gold  coin  worth  about  thirty-five  dollars.]  You  have 
been  very  diligent  in  a  most  difficult  and  important  business. 
I  am  very  much  satisfied,  and  will  change  your  territory; 
and  as  that  you  now  possess  is  very  poor,  I  will  give  you 
better."  (He  also  sent  him  a  sword.) 


330  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

To  the  temple  lord,  Matzdaira  Hoki  no  kami,  were  given 
a  saddle  and  six  dresses. 

To  the  Owo  metski  Kowongai  were  given  seven  obangs 
and  four  dresses. 

To  the  street  governor  of  Yedo,  Ikeda,  were  given  seven 
obangs  and  five  dresses. 

To  the  second  street  governor,  Ishi  ngaya,  ten  obangs 
and  five  dresses. 

To  the  treasurer,  five  obangs  and  three  dresses. 

These  men  had  acted  as  the  judges  in  the  Hio  jo  sho,  and 
had  awarded  the  punishments  to  the  accused.  Itakura  was 
degraded  because  he  would  not  act  as  the  tool  of  the  Regent 
in  executing  his  vengeance. 

In  a  letter  to  these  officers  the  Shiogoon  expresses  satis- 
faction with  the  diligence  shown  by  them,  and  on  that  ac- 
count rewards  them,  at  the  same  time  rewarding  smaller 
officers  who  have  been  similarly  engaged,  but  without  speci- 
fying them  by  name. 

To  Manabay,  who  had  been  formerly  Prime  Minister, 
and  lately  much  engaged  in  ferreting  out  these  intrigues 
for  the  Regent,  the  Shiogoon  wrote:  "You  are  now  not  very 
strong,  and  it  will  be  perhaps  better  that  you  retire  from  the 
weight  of  public  duty." 

The  Regent  and  he  had  a  difference  as  to  whether  he  was 
right  in,  or  had  the  power  of,  punishing  these  men.  The 
Regent  was  anxious  to  get  rid  of  him,  but  his  arguments 
were  strong,  and,  besides,  he  was  cognizant  of  all  the  secrets 
of  the  late  coup  d'etat,  so  that  the  Regent  dared  not  take  a 
stronger  step  than  simply  advise  him  to  withdraw. 

The  Regent  must  have  been  well  aware  that  in  acting 
as  he  was  doing  he  was  playing  a  dangerous  game.  He  had 
not  been  afraid  to  enter  the  family  of  the  Emperor  himself. 
The  servants  of  the  highest  Koongays  had  been  arrested, 
and  themselves  insulted  and  degraded.  He  had  degraded 
five  of  the  highest  Daimios — Owarri,  Mito,  Satsuma,  Tosa, 
and  Etsizen — and  had  severely  punished  all  of  lower  rank 
who  had  in  any  way  countenanced  or  assisted  those  opposed 


HISTORY   OF   EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  331 

to  him.  He  had  put  his  own  protege  on  the  seat  of  the 
Shiogoon,  in  opposition  to  Stotsbashi,  the  nominee  of  Mito. 
He  now  felt  that  he  must  retain  the  reins  of  power  in  his 
own  hands,  as,  if  he  yielded  a  jot,  his  enemies  would  over- 
throw him,  and  take  away  his  place  and  name.  The  only 
thing  he  had  now  to  fear  was  secret  enemies,  who  might 
wreak  their  vengeance  by  poison  or  assassination. 

The  3d  day  of  the  3d  month  is  a  day  when  a  great  levee 
is  held  at  the  castle  in  Yedo,  all  the  Daimios  on  duty  appear- 
ing in  court  dresses,  with  large  retinues.  At  such  times  it 
is  common  for  strangers  to  gather  on  the  broad  road  or 
esplanade  by  the  side  of  the  castle  moat,  to  watch  the  trains 
of  the  Daimios  going  to  and  returning  from  court.  They 
often  carry  with  them  the  small  monthly  list  of  officials  in 
which  the  armorial  bearings  are  given,  by  which  the  train 
of  each  Daimio  may  be  at  once  recognized.  In  the  Daimios' 
quarter  of  the  city  the  guards  of  the  streets  and  cross  streets 
are  the  retainers  of  Daimios.  The  guard-houses  are  some  • 
times  divided  into  two  when  the  guard  is  divided  between 
two  neighboring  Daimios.  Upon  days  of  levee  such  as  this 
strangers  are  allowed  to  loiter  about,  and  are  not  so  readily 
noticed  as  at  other  times. 

At  the  south  side  of  the  castle  of  Yedo  is  the  Soto  Saku- 
rada,  or  outer  Cherry  gate,  opening  from  that  part  of  the  in- 
closure  in  which  the  residences  of  the  Gorochiu  are  situated. 
At  this  gate  the  moat  is  crossed  by  a  bridge  which  opens 
upon  a  wide  graveled  road — the  Tatsu  no  kutchi — bounded 
on  the  one  side  by  the  moat,  011  the  other  by  Daimios'  resi- 
dences, and  leading  by  a  gentle  ascent  to  the  residence  of 
the  Regent,  Ee  Kamong  no  kami. 

On  the  3d  day  of  the  3d  month  the  Shiogoon  was  to  hold 
this  levee,  at  which  the  Regent,  now  that  he  had  put  down 
his  enemies,  would  appear  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power  as 
the  real  ruler  of  Japan.  He  set  out  in  his  norimono  toward 
the  Sakurada  gate,  which  was  at  a  short  distance,  and  seen 
from  the  door  of  his  own  residence.  He  was  surrounded  by 
his  own  retinue  in  white  dresses.  Suddenly  a  rush  of  men 


332  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

was  made  at  the  train.  The  bearers  set  down  the  norimono. 
Men  with  drawn  swords  ordered  him  to  come  out.  He  ex- 
postulated. One  fired  a  pistol  through  the  chair,  wounding 
him  in  the  back.  He  tried  to  crawl  out,  but  his  head  was 
immediately  cut  off  and  carried  away  by  the  assassins. 

The  investigation  which  follows  will  show  what  took 
place. 

On  the  3d  day  of  the  3d  month  (March  24,  1860)  the 
Gorochiu  wrote  to  the  commander  of  the  guard  kept  by 
Matzdaira  Segami  no  kami:  "Why  did  you  allow  men  in 
disguise,  with  small  sleeves  and  drawn  swords,  to  pass  your 
guard  and  loiter  about  the  Tatsu  no  kutchi?"  To  this  a 
reply  was  given:  "There  was  a  heavy  fall  of  snow  at  the 
time.  I  noticed  the  men  once,  and  they  disappeared ;  but  I 
acknowledge  my  fault — I  am  much  to  blame  in  the  matter. 
But  what  shall  I  do  now?  Shall  I  cut  off  my  men's  heads?" 

The  same  question  was  put  to  Matzdaira  Daizen  no  dai- 
bu's  (Choshiu)  guard,  who  kept  the  Sakurada  gate.  He 
answered:  "This  morning  at  nine  o'clock  many  men  passed, 
but  whether  they  were  porters  or  soldiers  I  cannot  tell. 
Several  passed  with  blood-stained  swords  in  their  hands. 
I  was  on  the  point  of  arresting  them,  but  as  there  was  much 
snow  falling  I  could  not  see  them  distinctly,  or  where  they 
went  to." 

The  principal  gentleman  in  the  late  Regent's  service, 
Kimatta  Watari,  wrote  to  the  Gorochiu  as  follows:  "This 
morning,  while  my  master  was  on  his  way  to  the  shiro  to 
pay  his  respects  to  the  Shiogoon,  an  attack  was  made  upon 
his  train.  In  the  scuffle  one  man  was  killed,  and  the  ser- 
vants of  Ee  brought  the  body  to  the  house  here." 

It  is  a  general  impression  in  Yedo  that  the  servants,  or 
some  of  them,  as  well  as  the  guards  about,  and  even  some 
of  the  Daimios  living  in  the  neighborhood,  were  cognizant 
of  the  attack  about  to  be  made.  Some  of  them  gave  no 
assistance  to  their  master. 

The  same  day  the  Shiogoon  sent  two  Katchi  metsuki  to 
Ee  Kamong  no  kami's  house  to  make  inquiries. 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE    CONTINUED.  333 

The  servants  of  Sakkai  oota  no  kami,  guards  of  the  Owo 
tay,  a  large  gate  of  the  castle,  wrote  a  similar  letter  to  the 
above.  It  is  a  common  plan  in  Japan,  even  among  Daimios, 
when  an  investigation  is  to  be  made  in  which  many  are  con- 
cerned, for  all  to  write  similar  letters,  to  prevent  the  gov- 
ernment seizing  one.  They  added:  "One  Ronin,  between 
twenty-seven  and  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  cut  his  throat. 
He  only  had  his  sword-sheath  when  found,  and  no  sword. 
"We  found  one  wounded  by  a  shot,  and  seized  him." 

At  Tatsu  no  kutchi,  the  men  at  the  cross-street  guard- 
house, occupied  by  Tajima  no  kami  and  Sakkai  oota  no 
kami,  said  to  the  Gorochiu:  "At  about  eight  o'clock  this 
morning  a  man  shot  himself  through  the  neck  while  holding 
a  man's  head  in  his  hand.  Immediately  one  of  the  guard 
said,  'I  will  ask  the  man  where  he  came  from.'  He  said  he 
was  a  servant  of  Satsuma.  We  sent  for  a  surgeon,  and 
he  is  now  under  treatment." 

Ee  K among  no  kami  writes  himself  to  the  Shiogoon  (not- 
withstanding his  having  had  his  head  removed  several  hours 
previous) :  "1  proposed  going  to  the  levee  at  the  palace,  and 
was  on  my  way  there ;  when  near  the  Sakurada  gate,  and 
in  front  of  the  joint  guard  of  Matzdaira  Osumi  no  kami 
and  Ooyay  Soongi,  about  twenty  men  were  collected.  They 
began  to  fire  pistols,  and  afterward  with  swords  attacked  me 
in  my  norimono.  My  servants  thereupon  resisted,  and  killed 
one  of  the  men — the  others  ran  off  and  escaped.  I  having 
received  several  wounds,  could  not  pay  my  intended  visit  to 
the  Shiogoon,  and  was  obliged  to  return  to  my  house,  and 
now  I  send  the  names  of  such  of  my  servants  as  were 
wounded." 

Of  these  there  were  in  all  nineteen,  of  which  number 
several  died. 

Upon  receiving  intelligence  of  this  attack,  the  Shiogoon 
sent  to  the  Regent  a  present  of  ginseng  root,  and  to  inquire 
more  particularly  as  to  his  health  and  condition. 

Upon  the  coats  which  were  left  by  the  assassins  pieces  of 
poetry  had  been  worked  with  the  needle;  such  as,  "Let  us 


334  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

take  and  hoist  the  silken  standard  of  Japan,  and  first  go  and 
fight  the  battles  of  the  Emperor."  Upon  another -was  the 
following:  "My  corpse  may  dry  up  with  the  flowers  of  the 
cherry,  but  how  can  the  spirit  of  Japan  relax?" 

The  names  of  eighteen  men  are  given  who  were  engaged 
in  the  assassination  of  the  Regent.  Of  these — 

Arimura  Jesayay  mong,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the 
actual  perpetrator  of  the  deed,  was  head  servant  of  Sat- 
suma. — His  brother  is  probably  the  man  who  assassinated 
Mr.  Richardson  in  1862. 

Sanno  take  no  ske,  a  servant  of  Mito. 

Seito  Kemmootz. 

These  three,  with  two  others,  are  said  to  have  died  of  the 
wounds  received,  on  the  7th  day  of  the  3d  month,  or  four 
days  after  his  death.  Sakkai  and  Yakushuri,  on  the  part  of 
the  Shiogoon,  sent  a  .letter  to  Ee  Kamong  no  kami,  to  ask 
how  he  was,  and  to  bestow  upon  him  a  present  of  fish  and 
sugar,  as  a  mark  of  regard. 

The  Cabinet  was  in  difficulty  how  to  act.  They  were  of 
the  party  of  the  Regent,  but  were  now  afraid  that  the  oppo- 
site views  would  prevail,  and  that  power  would  fall  into  the 
hands  of  Mito. 

On  the  part  of  the  Gorochiu,  Neito  Kii  no  kami  wrote  to 
the  servants  of  Ee  Kamong  no  kami : 

"As  a  severe  misfortune  has  befallen  Ee  Kamong  no 
kami,  all  his  servants  and  relations  are  liable  to  be  implicated 
in  the  trouble.*  If  you,  in  revenge,  should  raise  disturbance 
with  the  followers  of  Mito,  it  will  occasion  much  trouble. 
I  will  endeavor  to  arrange  matters  for  you,  and  keep  things 
quiet." 

For  some  time  after  the  assassination,  the  gates  of  the 
Shiogoon's  castle,  known  as  the  Sakurada,  Babasaki,  and 


*  It  is  a  custom  in  Japan  that  the  territory  of  a  man  who 
has  been  killed  by  assassins  is  taken  from  his  family,  and 
the  family  and  retainers  of  the  Regent  were  afraid  of  this  law 
being  put  in  operation  against  them. 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  335 

Watakura,  were  shut.  The  Tayass  gate  at  Take  bashi,  the 
Hanzo  and  Sayniidzu  gates,  were  open  during  the  day  and 
shut  at  night. 

The  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  allowed  a  guard  of 
sixty  men,  and  those  of  the  lower  Cabinet  fifty  men. 

The  men  now  feared  by  the  government,  the  partisans  of 
Mito,  were  lurking  about  Yedo  in  numbers.  It  was  known 
that  the  head  of  the  Regent  had  been  carried  off  to  the  city 
of  Mito  and  put  up  on  a  pole,  with  much  abusive  writing 
attached  to  it. 

The  Shiogoon  gave  orders  to  five  Daimios  to  arrest  all 
suspicious  persons  from  Mito,  and  to  seize  the  leaders  of  the 
movement. 

Mito  had  said,  tauntingly,  "How  can  I,  a  poor  Daimio, 
arrest  these  men,  when  you,  the  Shiogoon,  are  not  able  to  do 
so?  If  you  wish  to  seize  these  men,  send  your  officers  and 
do  it.  From  Tatsuno  kootchi  a  head  was  brought,  and  Ee 
Kamong  no  kami's  servants  are  very  anxious  to  get  posses- 
sion of  it." 

The  head  of  the  Cabinet,  Neito,  wrote  to  Matzdaira 
Osumi  no  kami:  "Three  days  ago  a  high  officer  was  assassi- 
nated before  your  door.  You  did  not  go  to  his  assistance, 
or  prevent  the  outrage.  You  were  very  negligent  of  your 
duty,  and  you  are  to  be  punished  by  the  door  of  your  resi- 
dence being  shut  for  one  week,  and  you  are  not  to  go  out 
during  that  time,  but  to  confine  yourself  to  your  own  house." 

A  similar  message  was  sent  to  Katagiri  Iwami  no  kami, 
keeper  of  the  Heebiyah  gate ;  and  also  to  Toda  stchi  no  ske 
(a  child),  keeper  of  the  Baba  saki  gate. 

At  this  time  the  streets  of  Yedo  were  placarded  with 
squibs  against  the  party  of  the  late  Regent  and  those  in 
favor  of  foreigners.  One  of  these  accused  the  late  Gotairo 
of  enriching  himself  by  foreign  trade  at  the  expense  of  the 
people  of  Japan,  and  others  were  obscure  allusions  to  the 
founder  of  the  family.  Another,  by  turning  the  characters 
of  his  name  upside  down,  makes  of  it,  "A  gentleman's  head 
swept  away  is  very  good." 


336  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

(Some  of  these  squibs  were  what  is  called  "Yabatai" 
writing.  This  name  is  founded  on  the  following:  Abe  no 
naka  maro  in  old  times  was  sent  as  embassador  to  China. 
The  Chinese  Emperor  was  angry  with  him,  and  said  that 
if  he  could  not  read  a  certain  piece  of  writing  he  would 
kill  him.  He  failed,  and  was  put  to  death.  Another  em- 
bassador succeeded,  to  whom  the  same  alternative  was 
given.  While  he  was  musing  upon  it,  and  praying  to  Ten 
sho  go  dai  jin,  a  spider  dropped  from  the  ceiling  upon  the 
paper,  and  went  from  word  to  word  showing  him  how  it  was 
to  be  read.  This  is  called  Yabatai,  wild-horse  writing,  now 
converted  into  Yabotai,  wild-fool  writing. ) 

The  following  information  as  to  the  assassins  appears  to 
have  been  given  to  the  Gorochiu  by  Hossokawa,  the  Daimio 
to  whose  residence  several  of  the  assassins  fled,  saying  that 
they  were  men  from  Mito,  and  wished  t^  place  themselves 
under  his  protection.  He  is  supposed  to  have  known  all 
about  the  affair  from  the  first. 

One  of  the  assassins,  Mori,  said  that,  about  three  months 
before,  he  had  attempted  to  kill  the  Regent  by  shooting  him 
with  a  pistol.  The  ball  passed  through  the  norimono,  and 
he  made  his  escape.  The  day  they  came  to  Hossokawa's 
house  was  very  cold,  so  they  were  provided  with  food  and 
wine.  There  was  much  snow  falling,  which  furthered  the 
designs  of  the  assassins,  as  they  thought  it  was  assistance 
given  them  from  heaven.  They  were  all  very  tired  and 
sleepy.  Upon  the  18th  day  of  the  2d  month  they  all  went 
to  Mito,  afterward  returning  to  Yedo ;  and  they  met  in  the 
morning  of  the  3d  day  of  the  3d  month  at  Atango  yama. 
They  did  not  sleep  there ;  but  the  Buddhist  priest  was  cog- 
nizant of  what  was  going  on. 

The  government  in  Yedo  had  doubtless  good  cause  for 
alarm  at  the  present  crisis,  as  Mito,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  young  Ee,  son  of  the  Regent,  on  the  other,  were  making 
preparations  for  a  fight.  The  policy  of  lyeyas  in  compelling 
the  lords  to  be  personally  in  Yedo  with  few  followers,  while 
their  strength  in  men  remained  at  their  provincial  seats,  pre- 


HISTORY   OF   EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  337 

vented  any  outbreak.  Mito  was  gradually  filling  his  houses 
in  Yedo  with  men. 

On  the  other  side,  the  family  retainers  of  the  Ee  Kamong 
no  kami,  the  lad  who  had  succeeded  to  his  father,  fearing 
what  might  be  the  result  of  the  present  crisis,  brought  up  ten 
cannon  from  his  shta  yashiki  in  the  suburbs  of  Yedo,  to  his 
kami  yashiki.  [Every  Daimio  of  any  wealth  has  three  houses 
in  Yedo:  his  own  residence,  kami  yashiki,  where  his  wife 
and  family  reside,  near  the  castle ;  naka  yashiki,  where  con- 
cubines, servants,  etc.,  reside;  and  shta  yashiki,  where  he 
has  a  garden,  and  retainers,  servants,  and  their  families 
reside.]  From  his  lands  at  Sano,  in  the  province  of  Simo- 
tsuki,  he  brought  up  400  men. 

On  the  same  day  on  which  the  Regent  was  killed,  an 
attempt  was  made  by  Ronins  of  Mito  to  kill  Matzdaira 
Sanuki  no  kami,  who  was  a  near  relative  of  Mito,  but  a 
friend  and  son-in-law  of  Ee  Kamong  no  kami.  He  had 
some  suspicion,  and  was  unwell  on  the  day  of  the  levee,  and 
sent  his  son  in  his  place.  The  norimono  was  attacked,  but 
when  the  son  was  dragged  out,  and  they  discovered  their 
mistake,  the  assassins  let  him  go.  The  father  did  not  long 
escape,  however.  He  had  taken  as  a  concubine  a  girl  from 
Mito,  who,  during  the  next  month,  stabbed  him  while  in 
bed,  and  cut  off  his  head,  sending  it  to  Mito.  Matzdaira 
Koonai  no  ta  yu,  another  friend  of  the  Regent's,  and  also  a 
relative  of  Mito,  hearing  in  the  palace  of  the  murder  of  the 
Regent,  escaped  by  a  back  way. 

The  Daimio  Hossokawa  Etshiu  no  kami  wrote  to  the 
government  as  follows: 

"Yesterday  morning  some  men  came  to  my  guards  at 
the  main  gate,  and  said  they  were  servants  of  Mito  and  had 
killed  the  Regent,  and  it  was  right  that  they  should  go  to 
the  Gorochiu;  but  as  it  is  the  first  time  they  have  come 
to  Yedo,  and  do  not  know  where  the  Gorochiu  live,  they 
requested  me  to  go  with  them.  I  asked  them  who  they 
were  and  what  they  wanted.  They  answered,  that  they  had 
been  this  morning  fighting  with  the  Regent  at  the  Sakurada 

15 


338  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

gate;  and  having  first  wounded  him  with  a  pistol,  they 
pulled  him  by  the  right  hand  out  of  the  kango  and  cut  off 
his  head.  There  came  at  first  only  nine  men,  but  these  were 
followed  by  a  number  of  others :  whence  they  came  I  do  not 
know." 

Hossokawa  accompanied  these  men  to  the  Hio  jo  sho, 
where  the  judges  on  duty  asked  them  to  give  in  writing  their 
reasons  for  killing  the  Regent.  The  answer  was :  "We  have 
good  reasons.  From  the  time  of  Zin  mu  ten  wo  to  the  pres- 
ent day  the  Japanese  nation  has  never  received  any  insult 
from  a  foreign  nation ;  now  five  foreign  nations  have  made 
treaties,  and  all  through  the  empire  the  people  are  angry 
and  sorry  and  vexed,  and  the  Regent  did  not  care.  If  he 
does  not  care  for  this,  he  makes  himself  an  enemy  to  the 
nation,  and  therefore  we  killed  him.  We  have  no  other 
reason." 

The  officers  at  the  Hio  jo  sho  were  afraid  to  ask  any  more 
questions. 

Mito  sent  the  following  letter  to  the  Shiogoon : 

"I  am  told  that  some  men  who  were  formerly  in  my  ser- 
vice, but  who  were  dismissed,  have  gone  this  morning  to  the 
Sakurada  gate  and  killed  Ee  Kamong  no  kami.  They  ap- 
pear to  have  gone  to  Hossokawa,  wishing  that  he  should 
take  them  into  his  employ.  A  messenger  from  Hossokawa 
has  brought  me  this  information.  I  am  very  sorry  for  it,  and 
it  has  caused  me  much  distress.  I  could  not  employ  so  many 
servants,  and  therefore  was  obliged  to  reduce  my  establish- 
ment, while  some  men  who  would  not  obey  me  went  away 
of  their  own  accord.  On  this  account  I  am  unable  to  arrest 
or  punish  such  men,  and  must  trust  to  the  servants  of  the 
Shiogoon  doing  so,  while  I  must  try  to  find  those  who  have 
absconded;  but  the  Shiogoon  is  powerful  while  I  am  com 
paratively  powerless;  I  therefore  beg  the  assistance  of  the 
Shiogoon." 

The  Shiogoon  wrote  to  Mito  on  the  4th  day  of  the  3d 
month : 

"Yesterday  your  servants  killed  the  Gotairo,  and  now  I 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  339 

fear  they  may  attack  and  kill  some  of  the  Gorochiu.  It  is 
ordered  that  your  servants  from  morning  to  night,  all  day 
and  all  night,  are  not  to  move  out  of  the  house." 

Otta,  Hiobu  sho,  wrote  to  the  Shiogoon : 

"This  morning  about  8  A.M.  the  men  of  my  guard  in- 
formed me  that  two  soldiers  had  passed  them  wounded  and 
covered  with  blood.  They,  when  very  near  my  cross  guard, 
committed  suicide.  I  thereupon  sent  an  Ometski  to  investi- 
gate the  case.  I  asked  the  men  standing  near  whence  they 
had  come.  They  said  from  the  direction  of  the  Heebiyah 
gate,  and  that  on  account  of  a  severe  wound  of  the  shoulder 
one  of  them  was  faint  and  could  not  walk.  He  said  to  his 
companion,  'I  cannot  kill  myself,  as  I  cannot  move  my  right 
hand' ;  the  other  said,  'If  you  are  weak  I  will  do  it  for  you,' 
and  cut  off  his  head,  and  immediately  after  doing  so  he  cut 
his  own  throat.  We  found  that  one  of  the  swords  of  these 
men  was  bent  round  like  a  bow,  and  on  examining  the  pock- 
ets, one  had  seven  boos  [coins],  and  the  other  seven  boos  and 
a  half ;  and  besides  the  money  was  a  crest  similar  to  that 
used  by  the  Shiogoon  [Mito  uses  the  same  crest — the  awoyee, 
or  three  leaves],  which  had  been  cut  from  his  coat;  and  a 
receipt  from  the  Yebi  ya  [i.e.,  lobster  inn],  a  tea-house  at 
the  Yosiwarra  [the  government  brothel] — viz.,  two  boos  for 
Tamanyoshi  and  two  for  Chittosay,  two  girls;  one  boo  for 
a  singing-girl;  one  boo  for  drink,  two  boos  for  fish,  and  ten 
tenpos  for  rice,  with  half  a  boo  as  a  present  to  the  servants 
of  the  house,  with  the  date,  3d  month,  27th  day." 

The  street  governor  came  and  examined  the  corpses,  and 
took  them  away  on  the  4th  day  of  the  3d  month. 

On  the  4th  day  of  the  3d  month — i.e.,  the  day  after  the 
assassination — Satsuma  wrote  to  the  Shiogoon: 

"A  servant  of  mine,  Arimura  Yooske,  yesterday  ab- 
sconded and  has  not  yet  returned.  I  find  that  a  man  who 
committed  suicide  yesterday,  near  the  residence  of  Endo 
Tajima  no  kami,  was  his  elder  brother.  As  I  am  ignorant 
of  what  he  has  been  doing,  please  to  order  him  to  be 
arrested." 


340  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

On  the  3d  day  of  the  3d  month  the  Ronins  in  the  service 
of  Mito  who  had  assisted  in  the  murder  wrote  out  the  follow- 
ing statement  and  gave  it  to  Hossokawa : 

"We  left  our  province  of  Hitatsi  on  the  18th  day  of  last 
month;  we  did  not  meet  together,  but  stopped  at  different 
parts  of  the  town  during  our  stay  in  Yedo.  This  morning 
we  all  met  at  the  temple  on  Atango  Hill  [in  the  middle  of 
Yedo],  and  thence  we  went  to  the  Cherry  gate,  and  waited 
between  the  guard-house  of  Osumi  no  kami  and  the  Cherry 
gate.  The  Gotairo  came  along  with  his  retinue.  All  at 
once  we  surrounded  the  kango  on  both  sides.  For  some 
time  we  argued  with  the  Gotairo.  We  told  him  that  he  was 
a  bad  man.  We  spoke  to  him  about  foreigners  coming  to 
the  country,  about  the  export  of  gold,  about  his  receiving 
money  as  bribes  from  foreigners.  He  answered,  and  his 
men  tried  to  prevent  any  attack  being  made  upon  him. 
One  of  our  men  fired  a  pistol  into  the  kango  (by  which  shot 
he  was  wounded  in  the  back).  He  crawled  out  of  the  kango, 
but  could  not  rise  off  his  hands  and  knees  quickly.  His 
servants  ran  away,  and  one  man  cut  off  his  head;  six  or 
seven  others  hacked  at  his  body." 

In  the  pocket  of  Arimura,  the  servant  of  Satsuma,  who 
had  been  killed,  was  found  a  "sakiburay,"  or  permit  to 
travel  for  the  Prince  of  Satsuma,  who  was  at  this  time  a 
child — "My  master  to-morrow  sets  out  for  Satsuma,  and 
wants  at  each  station  coolies  and  horses. "  There  was  also 
found  a  piece  of  poetry : 

"This  is  my  body,  which  belongs  to  my  master; 
I  will  wait  in  the  ground  till  my  name  is  made  greater." 

The  following  is  given  as  information  with  reference 
apparently  to  the  men  who  had  banded  themselves  together 
to  free  their  country  from  the  presence  of  foreigners : 

"There  are  sixty  honorable  men  in  the  service  of  Mito 
who  are  very  hard  and  iron- willed.  Why  are  they  so  iron- 
willed?  To  drive  away  foreigners  according  to  the  wish  of 
the  Emperor  expressed  in  his  letter  of  the  28th  day  of  the 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  341 

12th  month.  Mito  has  received  a  letter  from  the  Emperor. 
Hikonay  [i.e.,  the  Regent,  from  the  name  of  his  castle]  gave 
it  to  him  to  tell  him  he  must  go  to  Miako.  We  have  got  the 
Emperor's  letter  and  know  his  wishes  [that  foreigners  should 
be  driven  out  of  Japan],  and  if  we  do  not  obey  him  we  are 
rebels.  The  will  of  the  Emperor  we  are  determined  to 
accomplish." 

As  further  information  the  following  is  given:  Hotta 
Bitshiu  no  kami  went  to  Miako  on  the  part  of  the  Gotairo  to 
speak  to  the  Emperor  about  the  foreign  treaties  with  Japan. 
The  Emperor  said  to  him:  "You  have  made  your  treaties 
first,  and  afterward  come  to  me  to  tell  me  of  what  you  have 
done.  I  know  nothing  about  it.  I  know  nothing  about  the 
business  transacted  in  Kwanto — i.e. ,  in  Yedo. ' '  Hotta  could 
not  answer  the  Emperor. 

The  Regent  then  sent  Manabay  to  Miako  to  speak  to  the 
Emperor.  He  had  an  audience  of  the  Emperor,  and  advised 
him  to  wipe  out  the  treaty  made  at  Yedo,  and  to  make  an 
entirely  new  and  proper  one.  The  Emperor  replied:  "You 
have  fouled  my  face,  and  consider  me  as  of  no  use.  From 
the  beginning  there  was  always  an  Emperor  in  Japan ;  but 
if  now  the  people  do  not  wish  it,  I  will  give  up  my  position. 
But  you  are  trying  to  sow  divisions  between  the  Emperor 
and  the  Shiogoon." 

Manabay  said:  "It  will  be  better  for  us  to  make  their 
interests  one  [alluding  to  the  proposal  that  the  Shiogoon 
should  marry  the  sister  of  the  Emperor] .  If  we  do  so,  we 
can  afterward  unite  to  brush  out  foreigners." 

The  Emperor  replied:  "Now,  at  three  or  four  audiences 
you  have  brought  forward  the  business  of  Kwanto,  but  each 
time  it  has  been  false.  Now  you  speak  truth.  If  you  think 
it  right,  put  out  these  foreigners  now.  But  my  honor  has 
been  fouled  and  broken." 

Manabay  said:  "At  present  the  government  of  Japan  is 
difficult  and  in  a  critical  position,  but  let  us  be  quiet  and 
delay." 

Manabay  had,  for  the  Regent,  given  large  sums  of  money 


HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

to  the  high  Koongays,  the  Kwanbakku,  and  others,  to  bring 
over  the  Emperor  to  his  side.  The  Emperor  was  then  stand- 
ing alone,  the  Kwanbakku  having  been  bought  over.  Man- 
abay,  on  his  return,  retired  from  the  Gorochiu  to  his  pro- 
vincial residence  in  Etsizen,  but  he  got  the  credit  of  having 
saved  Japan  at  this  critical  period  from  a  civil  war.  It  was 
only  postponed  for  a  little. 

The  Gorochiu  were  in  great  alarm  at  this  time,  and  issued 
orders  to  all  the  guards  around  and  in  Yedo  to  be  on  the 
watch  for  disturbances. 

At  the  Hiojosho  the  following  evidence  was  elicited  from 
one  of  the  guards : 

"I  am  a  Gay  zammi.*  In  the  open  space  in  front  of  the 
gate  there  were  eight  or  nine  men  standing — some  with  rain- 
coats on,  and  some  holding  umbrellas — and  looking  at  the 
Sode  bookang.  f  I  heard  a  pistol-shot  in  the  open  space  in 
front,  and  several  shots  were  fired  at  the  kango.  The  bear- 
ers ran  away.  Some  men  then  seized  Ee  Kamong  no  kami 
by  the  mangay  [i.e.,  the  stiff  tuft  of  hair  on  the  top  of  the 
head],  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  kango.  After  that  I 
heard  loud  speaking,  quarreling  and  scolding;  and  soon 
after  they  cut  off  Ee's  head.  While  the  quarreling  was 
going  on  he  was  not  dead,  because  I  saw  him  moving  his 
hands.  Afterward  many  of  the  assassins  stamped  upon  the 
body,  and  all  kicked  it ;  and  they  afterward  hacked  the  body 
all  over.  They  then  all  ran  away." 

The  Gorochiu  immediately  sent  a  letter  to  the  Emperor : 
"This  morning  (3d  day  of  3d  month),  on  the  Soto  Sakurada, 
twenty  servants  of  Mito  assassinated  Kamong  no  kami.  We 

*  These  are  men  at  the  palace  gate  who  look  out  for 
Daimios  approaching,  and  give  notice  to  the  guard,  that  they 
may  know  how  to  salute  them,  according  to  their  rank. 
They  make  money  by  bribes  to  give  the  Daimios  higher 
salutes  than  they  are  entitled  to. 

f  The  sleeve  peerage,  as  it  is  called,  a  little  abridgment 
of  the  Bookang,  with  the  crests,  names,  and  offices  of  Dai- 
mios, often  used  by  strangers  to  recognize  Daimios  passing. 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  343 

fear  that  Mito  may  have  a  design  of  sending  men  down  to 
Miako  to  seize  the  Emperor,  and  gain  over  the  Koongays. 
Therefore  his  Majesty's  government  would  do  well  to  keep 
a  strict  watch  round  Miako,  and  in  the  six  roads  leading  to 
the  capital." 

Matzdaira  Higo  no  kami  wrote  to  the  Gorochiu:  "This 
morning  there  was  a  serious  disturbance  at  Soto  Sakurada. 
My  soldiers  are  at  your  disposal  to  guard  any  spot  where 
you  may  please  to  order  them." 

The  Gorochiu  answered,  by  the  usual  way  of  attaching  a 
small  slip  of  paper  to  the  letter:  "We  do  not  require  any 
more  soldiers." 

The  Shiogoon  ordered  Sakkai  Sayay  mon  no  jo,  who  was 
now,  by  the  death  of  the  Regent,  head  of  the  Tay  kan  no  ma, 
or  room  of  the  Fudai  Daimios,  as  follows : 

"This  morning  there  was  a  great  disturbance  in  Soto 
Sakurada;  and  afterward  there  was  fighting  close  to  the 
Shiogoon's  residence.  You  must  keep  all  the  soldiers  under 
your  command  in  readiness  within  your  house. ' ' 

The  Shiogoon  also  wrote  to  Higo  no  kami :  "You  say  you 
have  your  soldiers  all  ready  for  any  duty  they  may  be  called 
to.  Your  loyalty  has  given  me  much  satisfaction." 

On  the  4th  day  of  the  3d  month,  Okamoto  and  Soma,  the 
two  principal  officers  in  the  late  Regent's  service,  went  to 
the  Gorochiu  with  the  following  letter:  "Our  master,  Ka- 
mong  no  kami,  went  out  yesterday  to  go  to  the  castle  to  pay 
his  respects.  When  about  half-way  between  his  house  and 
the  gate  of  the  castle,  several  miscreants  fell  upon  him  and 
killed  him.  We  have  certain  information  that  these  assas- 
sins were  servants  of  Mito  and  Satsuma.  Yesterday  all  the 
officers  say  to  us,  'Wait  a  little.'  But  this  business  cannot 
wait.  We  wish  to  know  for  what  reason  these  men  killed 
our  master.  There  are,  at  the  present  moment,  some  of 
these  men  secreted  in  the  houses  of  Wakisaka  and  Hosso- 
kawa — two  Daimios.  We  wish  to  see  them,  and  ascertain 
from  themselves  why  they  killed  our  master.  We  desire 
that  these  men  may  be  delivered  up  to  us.  All  the  people 


344  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

of  Hikonay  [the  Regent's  territory]  wish  this,  and  we  trust 
you  will  take  pity  on  them  and  grant  their  desire." 

To  this  letter  the  Gorochiu  affixed  as  answer:  "Cannot 
do  so." 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Shiogoon  by  the 
son  and  servants  of  the  late  Regent  on  the  day  of  the  mur- 
der. It  was  written  to  ascertain  whether  the  law  of  Japan 
would  be  acted  upon  in  their  case,  by  which  the  territory  of 
any  officer  who  has  been  assassinated  is  confiscated.  "3d 
day,  3d  month. — Ee  Kamong  no  kami,  when  going  to  the 
castle  to-day,  and  when  near  the  Sakurada  gate,  was  at- 
tacked by  a  number  of  villains.  At  the  time,  so  much  snow 
was  falling  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  see  a  yard  before  one. 
All  the  servants  of  Ee  are  enraged.  There  were  but  few 
Ronins  and  many  servants,  and  they  ought  to  have  overpow- 
ered the  Ronins.  The  servants  are  deeply  shamed  when  they 
think  of  Ee  nawo  massa  (the  first  of  the  family  in  the  time 
of  lyeyas).  Whatever  is  to  become  of  us  we  care  not;  but 
the  retainers  and  friends  of  Ee  wish  to  know  whether  the 
house  is,  according  to  the  old  laws  of  the  empire,  to  be  re- 
duced in  rank  and  impoverished,  or  if  it  is  to  be  entirely 
degraded  and  removed  from  the  territory.  We  wish  to 
understand  clearly."  This  was  written  in  the  name  of  the 
young  Ee;  and  was  probably  written  with  the  view  of  pre- 
paring to  defend  themselves  and  party  by  an  appeal  to  arms 
rather  than  by  submission. 

The  Shiogoon  answered  to  this:  "All  your  father's  terri- 
tory I  restore  to  you  his  son." 

Here  terminates  the  native  account  of  the  assassination. 
It  gives  some  insight  into  the  working  of  the  government, 
and  the  unscrupulous  means  to  which  the  highest  magnates 
of  the  land  will  resort  to  attain  their  ends.  From  the  gen- 
eral tenor  of  the  statements,  the  extreme  hatred  of  one  party 
in  Japan  to  foreign  intercourse  is  brought  out,  and  the  slight 
which  the  Emperor  considered  to  have  been  put  upon  him 
by  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  without  his  consent  and 
against  his  expressed  opinion. 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  345 

Assassination  is  the  ultima  ratio  of  the  desperation  of 
party  weakness.  The  act  implies  that  the  party  which  has 
sanctioned  it  has  no  one  competent  to  cope  with  the  individ- 
ual removed,  or  to  fill  the  place  which  it  has  made  vacant. 

The  position  of  the  government  upon  the  death  of  the 
Regent  was  that  of  helpless  inactivity.  The  sudden  removal 
of  the  foremost  man  of  the  empire  was  as  the  removal  of  the 
fly-wheel  from  a  piece  of  complicated  machinery.  The  whole 
empire  stood  aghast,  expecting  and  fearing  some  great  polit- 
ical convulsion.  The  whole  country  knew  who  had  been  the 
active  agents  in  the  deed;  and  perhaps  there  were  at  heart 
very  few  who  did  not  feel  more  or  less  satisfaction  at  the 
blow  given  to  the  party  which  was  responsible  for,  and  in- 
strumental in,  bringing  foreigners  into  the  country;  and  a 
civil  war  or  revolution  would  certainly  have  followed,  had 
not  every  one  felt  that  they  were,  for  the  first  time  in  their 
history,  face  to  face  with  an  enemy,  fear  of  whom  concen- 
trated all  minor  feelings,  and  consolidated  them  into  one 
great  national  determination  to  rid  the  land  of  the  hated 
foreigners.  This  was  the  one  policy  which  the  Emperor 
demanded  of  the  Shiogoon,  which  the  people  looked  to  the 
government  to  effect,  and  which  the  lords  and  military 
classes  burned  to  carry  into  execution.  "Were  the  foreigners 
not  a  mere  handful  of  men,  and  were  such  to  be  allowed  to 
beard  and  insult  the  highest  personages  in  the  land  with 
perfect  impunity?  Now,  when  the  head  of  the  party,  who 
was  or  pretended  to  be  in  favor  of  such  a  change  of  the 
laws,  is  struck  down,  if  some  representative  of  the  national 
feelings  would  only  arise  and  lead  them  on,  they  would  fol- 
low to  the  death  in  such  a  glorious  cause.  But  no  such 
leader  appeared.  Where  was  Mito,  the  rival  of  the  late 
Regent?  and  why  did  he  not  come  forward  to  carry  out  his 
own  policy  at  this  juncture?  The  son  of  the  late  Regent  was 
too  young  and  inexperienced  to  claim  his  father's  office,  or 
to  assume  the  leadership  of  the  party.  It  was  the  personal 
hatred  of  the  two  men  which  had  been  the  moving  spring  in 
the  daring  action  of  the  Regent,  and  in  the  underhand  plot- 


346  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

ting  of  Mito.  In  all  probability  the  feelings  of  hostility  with 
which  each  regarded  the  foreigner  were  equally  strong. 
Mito  said  you  must  admit  foreigners,  because  you  cannot 
keep  them  out.  Ee  thought  we  c&n  admit  foreigners,  and, 
if  we  see  fit,  afterward  turn  them  out.  But  Mito  was  dis- 
liked by  the  other  Daimios,  and  his  name  was  not  sufficient 
to  rally  a  strong  party,  while  he  *  and  the  lately  degraded 
Daimios  were  now  in  arrest  in  their  own  houses,  in  terri- 
tories which  had  been  transferred  to  the  hands  of  infants. 
They  had  thus  no  opportunity  for  intriguing,  having  no  com- 
mon place  of  meeting  out  of  Yedo,  as  by  law  they  were  pro- 
hibited from  going  to  Miako,  and  could  only  come  to  Yedo 
as  Daimios,  when  called  there  on  duty  by  the  government. 

In  this  crisis  the  only  course  for  the  Cabinet  to  pursue 
was  to  go  on  quietly,  managing  the  routine  of  affairs  until 
tima  should  open  up  some  line  of  action.  The  Gorochiu, 
therefore,  with  Neito  at  its  head,  and  nominally  under 
Tayass  as  Regent,  continued  to  carry  on  the  ordinary  duties 
of  government. 

Events  have  shown  that  the  Regent  was  right  in  his 
judgment  of  the  men  whom  he  sought  to  remove  from  his 
path  as  obstacles — Mito,  Etsizen,  Satsuma,  Owarri — as  these 
have  all  since  his  death  reappeared  as  leaders  of  the  party 
opposed  to  his  policy  in  the  Obiroma  or  council  of  the  Ko- 
kushu.  Etsizen,  afterward  known  by  his  retired  title  Shoon- 
gaku,  was  the  first  among  these  magnates  who  attempted  to 
take  a  lead  in  the  government  of  Yedo.  He  had  been  re- 
moved from  his  position  as  Daimio  and  placed  in  arrest;  but, 
having  subsequently  been  released,  was  able  to  move  about 
and  obtain  an  influence  in  high  places.  He  obtained  from 
the  Emperor  a  letter  [afterward  considered  a  forgery],  ap- 
pointing ~  him  and  Awa  to  fill  the  place  of  co-regents,  under 
the  name  of  Sosai  Shoku  or  Sodangeite.  But  the  fermenta- 
tion of  revolution  had  already  begun  to  work,  and  at  such  a 

*  Mito  is  said  to  have  traveled  over  the  empire  incog, 
at  this  time,  to  study  the  feelings  of  the  people. 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  347 

time  the  first  actors  upon  the  stage  seldom  play  the  prom- 
inent parts  they  deem  themselves  fitted  to  fill.  They  gen- 
erally fail  to  see  the  causes  of  the  boiling  going  on  around. 
Such  a  man  is  like  an  atom  in  a  pot  of  boiling  water,  and 
knows  and  sees  nothing  of  the  fire  which  is  causing  all  the 
upturning  around  him.  To  even  a  superficial  looker-on  at 
the  state  of  things  in  Japan,  it  was  evident  that  such  a  dual 
condition  of  government  as  that  then  existing  could  not  long 
continue  to  carry  on  foreign  relations.  The  discord  and 
weakness  arising  from  the  permission  of  an  imperium  in 
imperio  by  the  exterritoriality  clause  was  greatly  increased 
by  the  government  attempting  to  carry  on  foreign  relations 
without  the  consent  or  against  the  will  of  the  higher  power 
in  Miako.  The  two  powers  must  work  harmoniously;  and 
so  long  as  the  internal  affairs  of  the  empire  are  the  only  pos- 
sible cause  of  rupture,  the  weaker,  though  more  exalted,  will 
find  it  to  be  its  interest  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  lower 
but  more  powerful,  the  executive.  So  soon  as  the  latter 
begins  to  act  as  supreme  power  toward  other  nations,  it 
places  itself  in  a  wrong  position,  and  foreign  nations  will  not 
treat  with  such  a  pretense.  The  opposition  finds  a  head  in 
the  Emperor,  and  the  only  way  to  avert  a  rupture  is  for  the 
lower  power  to  give  way  and  to  act  only  as  the  representative 
of  the  head  of  the  empire.  If  he  fails  to  see  this,  he  sets 
himself  against  the  Emperor,  who  is  then  supported,  not  only 
by  his  own  nobility,  but  also  by  those  powers  with  whom  he 
has  entered  into  relations.  The  party  of  the  Shiogoon  de- 
serts him,  and  his  only  role  is  to  work  with  and  under  the 
Emperor ;  or,  if  he  refuses  to  do  this,  civil  war  ensues,  and 
he  falls. 

After  the  removal  of  the  Gotairo,  the  Cabinet  was  able 
or  permitted  to  carry  on  the  affairs  of  State.  But  while 
everything  seemed  smooth,  smoldering  powers  were  at 
work  preparing  for  •volcanic  action.  The  Kokushu,  and 
especially  those  who  came  to  Yedo  from  the  west,  were 
becoming  very  much  irritated  about  the  question  of  for- 
eigners in  the  country,  and  foreign  ministers  in  Yedo.  The 


348  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

latter  assumed  a  position  of  superiority  to  which  these  lords 
were  quite  unaccustomed.  They  were  occupying  temples 
belonging  to  great  families,  situated,  in  cemeteries  conse- 
crated by  the  burial  of  their  ancestors  and  relatives,  but  now 
polluted  by  intruders  hateful  to  the  spirits  of  the  country. 
The  foreign  merchants  were  able  to  beard  these  princes  on 
the  highroad,  and  to  treat  with  nonchalance  dignitaries  who 
looked  for  the  utmost  deference,  and  who  were  authorized 
by  law  to  punish  at  their  own  hands  any  real  or  supposed 
insolence  or  insult.  On  the  other  hand,  they  saw  trade 
pushing  its  way  in  the  country ;  silk  which  had  been  sold  for 
100  dollars  was  now  bringing  1,000,  and  Emperor  and  lord 
longed  to  share  in  such  advantages  and  participate  in  the 
profits.  The  first  object  which  the  more  powerful  of  the 
Kokushu  set  themselves  to  accomplish  was  to  break  down 
this  intolerable  subjection  to  the  Yedo  government.  This 
was  not  difficult  to  do,  as  the  power  of  the  empire  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  delicate  lad,  and  the  Emperor,  through  whom 
the  end  was  brought  about,  was  promised  and  hoped  that 
the  power  would  revert  to  him.  The  agents  in  this  act  were 
Shoongaku,  Shimadzu  saburo,  Choshiu,  and  a  Koongay 
Ohara — a  distant  relative  and  the  unexpected  successor  of 
a  Koongay,  and  who  had  spent  his  early  life  hanging  about 
the  offices  of  Yedo.  After  the  boy-Shiogoon  had  been  mar- 
ried to  Kadsu  mia,  sister  of  the  Emperor,  Shoongaku,  who 
was  always  full  of  the  most  economical  if  not  parsimonious 
views,  reduced  the  retinue  and  court  of  the  Shiogoon  till  it 
was  brought  into  contempt  with  the  populace.  In  October, 
1862,  these  potentates  produced  a  letter  (forged,  as  is  gen- 
erally believed)  from  the  Emperor,  "putting  an  end  to  the 
routine  of  the  Yedo  court ;  and  having  the  power  in  their 
own  hands,  they  immediately  proclaimed  the  edict  and  car- 
ried it  into  execution.  The  order  was  to  the  effect  that  the 
higher  Daimios  were  to  visit  Yedo  only  once  in  seven  years, 
and  that  the  wives  and  families  of  all  the  Daimios  were  to 
live  at  their  own  provincial  seats.  This  removad  from  Yedo 
all  the  luster  of  the  court.  At  the  same  time  these  lords 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  349 

filled  up  the  complement  of  their  design  by  inducing  the 
Emperor  to  call  most  of  the  higher  Daimios  who  were  of 
their  own  views  to  Miako.  The  Mikado  was  swayed  hither 
and  thither  as  the  one  party  or  the  other  gained  the  power 
in  the  capital ;  and  so  at  one  time  Kanso,  the  retired  lord 
of  Hizen,  had  the  ear  of  the  Emperor  in  the  interest  of  the 
Shiogoon,  while  Choshiu  appeared  to  have  taken  up  arms 
against  his  sovereign.  But  he  seems  all  along  to  have  acted 
loyally  and  patriotically  in  showing  an  intense  hatred  to  the 
foreigners  who  were  by  force  of  arms  thrusting  themselves 
and  their  regiments  into  the  country.  This  act  was  the 
great  blow  which  broke  up  the  power  and  brought  to  a 
termination  the  dynasty  of  lyeyas.  He  had  foreseen  and 
made  provision  for  intestine  war  and  revolution,  but  had  not 
been  able  to  provide  for  a  treaty  with  foreign  nations  and  an 
exterritoriality  clause. 

In  1861  the  foreign  ministers,  up  to  that  time  resident  in 
Yedo,  retired  to  Yokohama,  and  pressed  one  demand  after 
another  upon  the  Japanese  government,  already  sufficiently 
occupied  with  complications  arising  from  intestine  difficul- 
ties. The  Cabinet  was  worried  by  requests  for  interviews 
upon  questions  of  land,  of  residences,  of  money  exchanges, 
of  matters  of  etiquette  in  interviews  with  the  Shiogoon,  and 
other  matters  which  might  seem  trivial  in  comparison  with 
the  crisis  through  which  the  country  was  passing  in  the  face 
of  an  internal  revolution.  These  foreign  ministers  were 
now,  somewhat  unreasonably,  all  demanding  that  residences 
should  be  built  for  them  by  the  Japanese  government,  and 
insisting  that  these  residences  should  (in  the  face  of  an  arti- 
cle of  the  treaty  to  the  contrary)  be  fortified  and  furnished 
with  guns.  The  recreation  ground  of  the  people  of  Yedo, 
Go  teng  yama,  was  demanded  and  given  up  for  this  pur- 
pose by  Ando,  then  Prime  Minister,  and  a  large  building 
was  erected  by  the  Japanese  government  upon  this  site; 
but  the  feelings  of  the  people  at  this  unjust  appropriation 
of  a  piece  of  ground  which  had  been  set  apart  for  their  use 
were  so  much  excited  that  another  local  emeute  was  threat 


350  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

ened  at  Yedo.  This  was  allayed  by  the  burning  of  the  new 
building,  and  by  the  attempted  assassination  of  the  Prime 
Minister,  who  narrowly  escaped  with  the  loss  of  an  ear. 

By  these  annoyances  occurring  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Yedo,  and  through  the  presence  of  foreigners,  a  strong  party 
was  drawn  over  to  the  views  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  nation 
began  to  see  that  he  had  all  along  been  in  the  right  in  oppos- 
ing the  admission  of  foreigners  as  detrimental  to  the  quiet  of 
the  country.  Satsuma  and  Choshiu  built  each  a  large  new 
residence  in  Miako.  The  Emperor  called  on  twelve  of  the 
wealthiest  among  the  Daimios  to  keep  each  a  sufficient  body 
of  troops  in  the  city  for  his  protection.  The  young  Shiogoon 
was  invited  or  called  upon  to  pay  a  visit  to  Miako  when 
Stotsbashi  was  intriguing  against  him.  He  accordingly 
went  with  Kanso,  the  retired  prince  of  Hizen,  while  Higo 
was  appointed  Shugo  shoku,  or  guardian  of  the  palace. 
This  meeting  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Shiogoon  seems  to 
have  opened  the  eyes  of  both  to  the  power  and  intelligence 
of  foreigners,  of  which  the  Emperor  and  his  court  seem  to 
have  been  ignorant.  Some  of  the  Miako  nobility  went  out 
on  a  trip  with  the  Shiogoon  in  his  steamer,  and  were  aston- 
ished and  converted;  and  Anega  Koji  was  assassinated  for 
expressing  too  plainly  and  openly  his  opinions  as  to  the 
power  and  energy  of  foreigners. 

The  intercourse  between  the  two  heads  of  the  empire 
seems  to  have  consolidated  the  power  of  the  government, 
and  promised  to  bring  forth  fruit  in  a  mutual  good  under- 
standing and  co-operation.  Stotsbashi  sneaked  away  to  Yedo 
in  disgrace,  and  had  to  run  the  gantlet  of  an  attack  on  his 
way  back,  when  his  chief  secretary  was  assassinated  on  the 
highroad  at  Saka  no  shta.  Shimadzu  and  Choshiu  retired 
from  Miako  in  disgrace  to  their  respective  provincial  resi- 
dences, where  they  brooded  over  their  own  position  and  that 
of  the  empire.  They  could  not  but  feel  that  it  was  the  loy- 
alty of  their  views  which  had  entailed  on  them  their  present 
disgrace,  and  the  prime  cause  of  this  was  the  foreigners. 
They  knew  well  that  the  feeling  of  every  one  of  their  coun- 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE    CONTINUED.  351 

trymen  was  with  them,  and  they  seem  to  have  at  last  deter- 
mined to  throw  themselves  into  the  breach  by  bringing  about 
u  quarrel  between  the  government  and  some  foreign  nation. 
Shimadzu,  the  father  of  the  Daimio,  then  a  minor,  deter- 
mined to  carry  out  the  laws  of  the  country  irrespective  of 
any  exterritoriality  clauses.  On  leaving  Yedo,  on  Septem- 
ber 14,  18(32,  he  gave  out  that  he  would  cut  down  any  for- 
eigners he  might  chance  to  meet  upon  the  road;  when,  as 
he  approached  Kanagawa,  meeting  three  gentlemen  and  a 
lady,  he  ordered  his  retainers  to  cut  them  down,  and  Mr. 
Richardson,  wounded  and  unable  to  ride  away  more  than 
two  hundred  yards,  was  set  upon,  fainting  from  loss  of 
blood,  and  brutally  murdered.  Justice  was  asked  from  the 
Shiogoon's  government  and  the  punishment  of  the  offender, 
who  was  well  known  to  all  Japan.  The  murder  of  a  mer- 
chant by  a  lord  like  Satsuma  was  treated  with  contempt,  and 
the  matter  was  referred  by  the  British  Minister  to  H.M.  gov- 
ernment. The  subsequent  necessary  delay  of  many  months, 
before  instructions  came  out  to  demand  an  indemnity  and 
the  punishment  of  the  offender,  raised  the  courage  of  the 
party  opposed  to  foreigners,  and  Choshiu  determined  on  his 
part  to  carry  out  the  laws  of  the  country  according  to  his 
instructions.  He  held  a  commission  from  the  Emperor  as 
guardian  of  the  Straits  of  Simo  no  seki,  the  narrow  western 
entrance  to  the  "inner  sea."  He  had  thereby  a  right  to 
overhaul  all  vessels  passing  through  this  strait.  There  is 
no  other  sea  quite  analogous:  it  resembles,  but  is  much 
narrower  than,  the  Dardanelles,  the  Sound,  the  Straits  of 
Dover,  or  Tarifa,  at  all  of  which  places  some  recognition  of 
the  power  of  the  nation  to  defend  a  vulnerable  point  of  her 
territories  has  been  allowed  in  the  exercise  of  certain  surveil- 
lance over  passing  vessels.  Choshiu  fired  upon  some  foreign 
vessels  passing  through  this  strait.  The  consequence  of  this 
was  a  combined  attack  by  English,  French  and  Dutch,  by 
which  he  or  one  of  his  relatives  (by  error)  suffered  severely 
in  men,  ammunition  and  prestige.  The  Shiogoon  disavowed 
his  proceedings,  and  to  satisfy  foreign  demands  proposed  to 


352  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

punish  the  rebel.  This,  however,  he  found  to  be  no  easy 
matter,  as  the  whole  troops  and  populace  were  in  favor  of 
Choshiu  and  his  patriotic  attempt,  and  the  Shiogoon  was  at 
last  obliged  to  make  terms  with  the  Daimio. 

Choshiu  had  presented  the  following  memorial  to  the 
government  upon  the  position  of  Japan  in  its  internal  and 
external  relations  at  this  juncture: 

"Allow  me,  notwithstanding  your  political  discussions 
[with  the  Mikado's  envoys],  to  give  you  my  opinion  respect- 
ing the  troubles  which  foreigners  have  given  us  of  late  years 
in  asking  all  kinds  of  concessions,  in  addition  to  the  unex- 
pected troubles  which  exist  in  our  own  country.  This  com- 
bination of  difficulties  within  and  without,  occurring  at  the 
same  time,  and  bringing  us  to  a  point  when  our  prosperity 
or  misfortune  is  decided,  keeps  my  heart  day  and  night  in 
anxiety,  and  induces  me  to  give  you  in  confidence  my  own 
feelings  upon  these  subjects. 

"I  have  long  thought  that  union  and  concord  between 
the  Shiogoon  and  Mikado,  and  obedience  to  the  Mikado's 
orders,  are  highly  necessary  in  keeping  up  an  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations,  as  I  have  already  said  very 
often. 

"But  every  one  knows  that  since  the  great  council  of 
officers,  the  Shiogoon  and  Mikado  are  disunited,  which  has 
occasioned  a  conflict  of  parties,  and  brought  with  it  discord 
and  trouble. 

"I  think  the  reason  of  this  is,  that  although  the  signing 
of  the  treaties  was  forced  upon  us  by  urgent  circumstances 
and  pressing  events,  there  are  some  who  maintain  that  the 
reopening  of  relations  with  foreigners  has  occasioned  a  deg- 
radation of  the  people,  who  were  so  brave  and  constant  ten 
years  ago,  to  the  state  of  quiescence  and  cowardice  to  which 
they  are  now  reduced  by  their  fear  of  war  and  of  the  foreign 
powers.  These  persons  who  are  of  this  opinion  are  therefore 
in  opposition  to  the  acts  of  the  Shiogoon,  and  say  that  they 
will  themselves  undertake  to  set  aside  the  treaties  and  pre- 
pare the  country  for  war,  declaring  that  the  Mikado  still 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE    CONTINUED.  353 

maintains  the  old  laws  of  our  country,  which  direct  the 
expulsion  of  foreigners. 

"Others  persons  accept,  on  the  contrary,  the  reopening  of 
the  country,  and  praise  the  foreigners,  and  thus  destroy  all 
confidence  in  ourselves.  They  say  that  the  foreigners  have 
large  forces,  and  that  they  have  great  knowledge  of  arts  and 
sciences. 

"These  conflicting  opinions  trouble  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple. Unity  is  force  and  strength,  and  discord  is  weakness; 
therefore  it  would  be  imprudent  to  go  to  war  against  power- 
ful and  brave  enemies  with  discord  in  our  minds. 

"The  closing  or  opening  of  Japan  is  a  matter  of  the  great- 
est moment.  That  which  cannot  be  shut  again  should  not 
have  been  opened,  and  that  which  cannot  be  opened  should 
not  have  been  shut. 

"The  closing  of  Japan  will  never  be  a  real  closing,  and  the 
opening  will  never  be  a  real  opening,  so  long  as  our  country 
is  not  restored  to  its  independence,  and  as  long  as  it  is  men- 
aced and  despised  by  foreign  countries.  Therefore  the  open- 
ing or  closing  of  Japan  is  dependent  upon  the  restoration  of 
our  own  powers ;  if  that  is  effected,  then  war  or  peace  can 
be  declared. 

"The  condition  upon  which  this  power  can  be  restored  to 
us  is  the  enlightening  of  the  people,  and  their  union. 

"I  think  the  only  way  to  bring  about  national  union  is 
by  solid  union  between  the  Shiogoon  and  Mikado,  acting 
together  as  in  one  body.  Should  there  be  war,  it  can  be 
brought  to  an  end  very  easily. 

"A  time  is  now  come  very  different  from  the  barbarous 
ages,  and  arising  out  of  the  long  peace  which  has  prevailed. 
Every  little  child  knows  the  respect  it  owes  to  its  parents 
and  masters. 

"It  will  therefore  rejoice  everybody  in  this  advanced  age 
to  see  the  Shiogoon  hold  the  Mikado  in  great  respect;  and 
the  whole  nation  would  honor  the  Shiogoon,  and  all  troubles 
would  cease,  and  then  only  we  can  be  restored  to  our  inde- 
pendence and  power. 


354  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

"After  our  independence  is  restored,  it  is  urgent  and 
pressing  that  we  reform  our  military  institutions,  the  naval 
sciences,  as  well  as  all  branches  of  industry.  We  should 
find  out  the  great  advancements  and  developments  of  arts 
and  sciences  in  other  countries.  The  whole  nation  must  de- 
vote life  and  soul  to  the  benefit  of  our  state,  and  we  must 
learn  and  study  the  interior  arrangements  of  foreign  lands, 
in  order  that  the  commerce  of  our  country  may  flourish  in 
this  important  age.  I  think  all  this  ought  to  have  been 
done  long  since ;  but  nothing  of  the  kind  is  to  be  found  hi 
the  edicts  which  have  appeared  so  often  during  the  last 
seven  years. 

"Inventions  and  improvements  pass  on  with  rapidity, 
and  the  time  is  now  come  to  make  all  these  changes  and 
improvements ;  but  if  our  attachment  to  old  customs  causes 
us  to  postpone  these  measures  of  such  great  importance,  if 
these  changes  are  later  suddenly  forced  by  circumstances  upon 
the  inhabitants,  a  very  bad  impression  will  be  produced, 
creating  disorder  and  confusion.  These  are  reasons  why 
they  should  be  effected  now  calmly  and  gradually.  I  think 
that  the  Mikado  will  not  be  disinclined  to  this,  and  therefore 
I  wish  that  the  Shiogoon  should  act  under  the  orders  of  the 
Mikado,  and  not  conclude  matters  by  his  own  authority. 
He  ought  to  let  these  designs  be  known  to  all  the  Daimios 
in  the  name  of  the  Mikado;  then  there  will  be  a  general 
quiet  restored;  then  the  dormant  soul  of  the  whole  nation 
will  awake,  and  will  be  united  in  power  and  in  independ- 
ence ;  and  then  it  will  display  its  force  and  strength  to  the 
other  five  portions  of  the  universe  without  anxiety  and  fear 
for  our  own  country. 

"I  do  not  write  these  my  sentiments  to  aid  you  in  your 
negotiations,  as  they  may  be  of  little  or  no  use  to  you,  and 
only  like  a  drop  of  water  falling  into  the  ocean ;  but  to  show 
my  gratitude  for  the  favors  of  the  Shiogoon,  which  my  an- 
cestors have  enjoyed  during  centuries." 

The  aim  of  the  party  opposed  to  the  policy  of  the  Shio- 
goon and  the  admission  of  foreigners  seems  to  have  been  to 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  355 

poison  the  mind  of  the  Emperor  against  the  young  Shio- 
goon,  and  to  embroil  the  country  in  a  war,  by  setting  the 
one  against  the  other.  The  letters  from  the  Emperor  which 
have  been  obtained  prove  this. 

The  following  letter  was  conveyed  by  Shimadzu  Saburo 
from  the  Emperor  to  the  Shiogoon  about  October,  1862 : 

"I  think  that  the  power  of  the  foreigners  [Ee  jin,  wild 
men]  at  the  present  time  in  the  country  is  improper;  and 
the  officers  of  the  Kwanto  seem  to  have  lost  all  knowledge 
of  the  right  way,  and  of  all  plans  of  action,  causing  disturb- 
ance all  over  the  empire.  All  my  people  [Ban  nin,  10,000 
men]  seem  about  to  fall  down  into  mud  as  black  as  char- 
coal. On  this  account  I,  standing  between  Ten  sho  go  dai 
jin  and  my  people,  am  very  deeply  distressed.  The  Bakuri 
[Shiogoon's  officers]  have  spoken  to  me,  saying,  'All  our  peo- 
ple are  agitated,  and  the  Shiogoon  has  no  power  to  hold  up 
his  arm.  Therefore  please  give  us  your  sister  in  marriage 
[to  the  Shiogoon].  If  you  can  do  this,  Miako  and  Yedo  will 
be  at  concord,  and  the  whole  power  of  Japan  can  join  to- 
gether, and  we  can  then  brush  away  the  Yee  teki'  [i.e., 
foreigners,  wild  enemies]. 

"In  answer,  I  said,  'This  is  right,  and  I  will  give  my 
sister. ' 

"At  that  time  the  Bakuri  said  to  me,  'In  ten  years  the 
foreigners  must  be  brushed  away.'  This  gave  me  great 
pleasure ;  and  I  pray  to  the  spirits  every  day  to  help  Japan. 

"I  have  now  been  waiting  for  a  long  time  for  your 
brushing  away.  Why  are  you  so  slow? 

"With  my  sister  Kadsumia  I  sent  Tchikusa  shosho  and 
Iwakura  chiujo,  and  at  the  same  time  granted  a  general 
amnesty ;  *  and  all  the  business  of  the  government  I  gave,  as 
in  former  times,  to  the  Shiogoon.  But  this  business  about 
foreigners  [Gway-Ee]  is  of  the  first  importance  to  the  coun- 
try. Therefore  I  said,  'Let  all  this  foreign  business  come 

*  The  Gorochiu  would  not  allow  this  to  be  granted,  and 
never  published  it. 


356  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

under  my  care,  and  I  will  settle  it.'  At  the  time,  all  the 
Yedo  officials  answered  to  me  that  the  Emperor's  proposal 
was  very  important  and  serious,  but  a  speedy  answer  cannot 
be  given,  and  that  we  must  wait  a  little. 

"After  this  time,  several  Daimios  proposed  several  differ- 
ent stratagems  for  driving  away  foreigners.  But  of  all  the 
Daimios  only  two — viz.,  Satsuma  and  Choshiu — came  in  per- 
son to  speak  to  me ;  and  all  the  loyal  people  from  San  yodo 
[west  of  Miako],  Nan  kaido  [island  of  Sikok],  and  Sai  kaido 
[island  of  Kiusiu],  came  to  Miako  like  bees,  and  addressed 
me  secretly.  All  these  tell  me  that  the  officers  of  Yedo  are 
all  bad,  and  that  they  are  becoming  worse  from  day  to  day; 
and  that  justice  and  truth  are  fallen  to  the  ground;  and  that 
they  do  not  hold  the  Emperor  in  respect;  and  they  are  friends 
of  the  foreigners,  giving  them  everything  they  want — silk, 
tea,  and  other  things — while  the  whole  country  loses.  All 
the  people  are  much  vexed  about  this;  and  they  feel  that 
they  are  becoming  the  same  as  servants  of  the  foreigners, 
and  now  their  habits  cannot  change.  On  this  account,  these 
people  of  San  yodo,  Nan  kaido,  and  Sai  kaido,  and  Satsu- 
ma and  Mowori  [Choshiu],  wish  to  raise  the  Emperor's  flag. 
And  they  say,  that  if  the  Emperor  with  the  flag  goes  to 
Hakonay,  the  Bakufu  [Shiogoon's  office]  officers,  if  bad, 
must  all  be  punished. 

' '  Some  men  say  that,  Japan  having  been  at  peace  for  a 
long  time,  the  spirits  of  the  people  are  very  lazy  and  slow ; 
therefore  they  suggest  that  a  letter  should  be  given  to  the 
Daimios  and  people  of  the  Go  ki  stchi  do  [i.e.,  the  districts 
lying  upon  the  seven  roads],  ordering  that  foreigners  must 
be  brushed  out  of  the  country. 

"The  Emperor  says:  'Throughout  the  empire  there  are 
many  loyal  and  patriotic  men,  therefore  I  will  speak  to  Sat- 
suma and  Nagato  to  desire  the  people  to  have  patience. ' 

"I  gave  a  letter  to  Koozay  Yamato  no  kami,  requesting 
an  answer,  and  yet  none  ever  came;  and  last  year  I  wrote 
and  proclaimed  an  amnesty,  and  to  this  I  received  no  an- 
swer. "Why  has  the  Shiogoon  thus  lost  the  way?  I  believe 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  357 

it  is  not  he,  but  his  officers.  All  the  Gorochiu  do  not  care. 
The  Ty  jiu  [great  tree]  is  but  young ;  but  I  fear  that  if  I 
delay  but  an  instant  [till  I  can  stand  up],  all  the  empire  will 
be  broken  up.  Therefore  I  am  every  day  troubled  and  weep- 
ing. All  the  officers  of  the  Kwanto  [the  Shiogoon,  Daimios, 
etc.]  think  only  of  the  happiness  of  a  day,  and  forget  the 
misery  of  a  hundred  years.  The  holy  books  thus  speak,  and 
you  ought  to  study  them.  You  ought  to  keep  these  virtuous 
ideas  in  your  minds,  and  be  ready  with  your  military  prep- 
arations, and  then  you  will  clearly  see  your  way  out,  and 
brush  away  the  power  of  the  foreign  enemies.  But  while 
all  Japan  is  in  a  state  of  excitement,  I  will  hold  to  the  me- 
dium course  [i.e.,  between  brushing  away  immediately  and 
waiting  indefinitely].  Since  the  Tokungawa  family  began 
[i.e.,  since  lyeyas],  there  has  not  arisen  a  question  of  so 
much  difficulty.  I  have  three  plans  to  propose:  The  first 
is,  that  I  will  gradually  bring  the  Shiogoon  and  Daimios 
and  Hattamoto  to  Miako,  and  will  hold  a  council  about  the 
government  of  the  country  and  the  brushing  away  of  for- 
eigners. If  we  can  do  this,  the  anger  of  heaven  and  the 
gods  will  be  averted.  They  will  rejoice,  and  the  good  minds 
of  the  lower  classes  will  return.  Then  all  people  will  stand 
on  a  strong  foundation,  and  the  empire  be  as  strong  as  a 
large  mountain. 

"My  second  plan  is,  you  must  lean  upon  the  old  laws  of 
Ho  taiko  [i.e.,  Taikosama],  and  give  the  laws  of  the  country 
and  the  settlement  of  the  question  into  the  hands  of  the  Tai 
hang  [i.e.,  large  fence,  or  the  Kokushiu]  and  the  Gotairo 
[i.e.,  five  elders].  If  we  do  this,  the  country  can  keep  out 
or  push  back  the  pressure  of  foreigners.  All  round  the 
coasts  military  preparations  must  be  made ;  and  so  the  coun- 
try will  be  strong,  and  foreigners  can  be  brushed  away. 

"My  third  plan  is,  to  order  Stotsbashi  to  assist  the  Ty  jiu 
on  all  internal  business,  and  to  give  the  office  of  Regent  to 
Shoongaku,  to  take  charge  of  the  outer  relations  of  the  office 
at  Yedo.  In  that  case  both  the  internal  and  external  busi- 
ness will  be  well  COB  ducted,  and  we  shall  not  blush  to  think 


358  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

that  we  are  servants  to  foreigners,  and  that  they  have  obliged 
us  to  cross  our  coats  the  right  over  the  left  side.*  For  all 
men  fear  that  in  a  very  little  time  these  foreigners  will  seize 
all  Japan. 

"I  think  that  these  three  plans  should  now  be  considered 
and  settled,  and  to  that  end  I  send  an  envoy  to  Kwanto ;  but 
if  they  cannot  all  three  be  carried  out,  I  wish  the  officers  of 
the  Shiogoon  to  examine  them  and  determine  on  one  that 
can  be  carried  out.  All  my  servants  must  be  very  busy 
going  round  and  round,  and  there  is  to  be  no  secrecy  about 
it ;  but  every  one  is  to  be  diligent,  and  all  must  give  me  a 
faithful  report." 

At  the  time  this  letter  was  written  both  Stotsbashi  and 
Shoongaku  were  in  Miako,  whither  they  had  hurried  down 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Shiogoon.  The  letter  bears  some 
internal  evidence  of  being  written  at  their  dictation,  espe- 
cially from  the  proposal  made  to  appoint  the  two  as  Lieuten- 
ants and  Regent  to  or  over  the  Shiogoon ;  and  corroborates 
the  advice  which  Kanso  had  given  the  young  Shiogoon;  viz., 
that  he  should  repair  at  once  to  Miako,  where  the  enemies 
of  his  power  were  trying  to  subvert  him. 

Not  long  after  this,  four  Koongays  of  Miako  having  been 
discovered  plotting  against  the  Emperor  were  degraded  and 
obliged  to  shave  their  heads  and  retire  to  monasteries.  Koonga 
and  his  son,  and  the  Empress  herself,  with  two  concubines, 
were  said  to  be  implicated  in  these  intrigues.  The  following 
reasons  of  punishment  were  published :  ' '  During  the  last  five 
years  intrigues  have  been  carrying  on  against  the  Emperor 
by  the  late  Gotairo  and  Sakkye  Wakasa  no  kami.  The  object 
of  these  intrigues  has  been  to  get  possession  of  the  Emperor's 
person  and  banish  him  to  one  of  the  islands  (as  formerly  sev- 
eral were  sent  by  Ashikanga  and  Hojio).  Sakkye  was  very 

*  The  custom  in  Japan  is  to  bring  the  left  of  the  dress 
over  the  right  side  in  front,  "migi  yeri" ;  and  it  is  a  common 
saying  that  foreigners  will  soon  oblige  them  to  change  even 
this  custom,  and  "hidari  yeri,"  cross  it  over  the  left  side. 


HISTORY  OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  359 

false,  and  tarnished  the  bright  name  of  the  Emperor,  which 
is  a  very  foul  crime.  Now  their  devices  have  been  discov- 
ered, and  the  Emperor  has  ordered  the  Sisshay  [another 
name  of  the  Kwanbakku]  thus  to  punish  them." 

The  punishment  inflicted  by  the  British  government  upon 
Satsuma  at  Kagosima,  on  account  of  the  murder  of  Mr. 
Richardson,  was  severe  but  deserved,  and,  in  a  political 
view,  was  completely  successful.  The  two  most  powerful 
lords  in  the  empire  had  each  tried  a  fall  with  foreigners  and 
been  worsted.  They  could  no  longer  press  on  the  govern- 
ment to  brush  out  these  intruders,  as  they  knew  now  by 
experience  how  far  behind  the  country  was  in  military  and 
naval  tactics  and  means  of  warfare.  The  natural  result  now 
followed — they  began  to  quarrel  among  themselves.  Seeing 
their  own  weakness,  however,  they  instantly  began  to  take 
what  steps  they  could  to  bring  themselves  up  to  a  higher 
standing  by  the  education  of  their  people,  and  they  began 
by  seeking  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  steam  and  steam-ves- 
sels. Choshiu  and  Satsuma  sent  young  men  to  England, 
arms  and  ammunition  were  purchased,  steam-factories  were 
erected  for  working  in  iron,  military  tactics  were  studied, 
professors  were  appointed  in  their  colleges,  and  officers  were 
obtained  to  drill  their  young  men  and  teach  the  use  of  the  rifle. 

The  fruit  expected  from  the  intercourse  of  the  Emperor 
and  Shiogoon  unfortunately  did  not  ripen.  The  latter  re- 
turned to  Yedo  despoiled  of  much  of  the  former  splendor 
of  his  position.  His  court  was  broken  up.  The  greater 
lords  paid  now  no  deference  to  him,  and  the  lesser  Daimios 
began  to  side  with  the  greater.  His  party  consisted  chiefly 
of  the  Kamong  Daimios,  the  relatives  of  the  family  of  To- 
kungawa.  Yedo  itself  was  falling  into  the  position  of  a  fad- 
ing capital,  and,  as  a  place  of  commercial  importance,  was 
dwindling  with  the  departure  of  its  political  greatness.  A 
feeble  attempt  was  made  to  recall  the  edict  and  re-establish 
the  old  order  of  things  in  Yedo;  but  events  rolled  on,  and 
things  are  shaping  themselves  in  totally  different  order  from 
that  proposed  by  the  ruling  powers. 


360  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

The  defeat  of  Satsuma  by  the  English  navy  at  Kagosi- 
ma  separated  that  Daimio  from  the  party  of  Choshiu  and 
others,  and  his  counsels  to  the  Emperor  were  those  of  peace. 
Shimadzu  Saburo  paid  the  indemnity  demanded  of  him,  and 
gave  assurances  that  the  offender  should  be  given  up  when 
discovered,  which  was  perhaps  as  much  as  could  be  ex- 
pected from  one  who,  while  a  murder  was  being  com- 
mitted by  hiso  rders,  was  quietly  sitting  within  ten  feet  of 
his  victim. 

The  Shiogoon  lyay  mutchi  had  found  nothing  but  trouble 
and  anxiety  from  his  elevation  to  the  seat  of  power  in  the 
year  1859.  In  1866  his  health  began  to  give  way,  and  he 
shortly  after  died,  leaving  no  children,  and  the  way  became 
open  to  his  rival,  Stotsbashi.  The  period  was  critical,  and 
the  ablest  man  would  have  found  difficulty  in  steering  through 
the  dangers  surrounding  the  vessel  of  state.  The  Daimios 
would  now  have  little  hesitation  in  withholding  their  allegi- 
ance to  another  Kubosama  until  it  should  be  settled  who  was 
to  be  the  de  facto  ruler  of  the  empire — the  Emperor  or  the 
Shiogoon.  Many  would  see  that  some  change  must  take 
place  in  the  internal  constitution  of  the  empire  now  when 
the  government  must  deal  as  one  body  with  foreign  nations. 
The  necessity  for  dual  government  was  at  an  end.  The 
mouthpiece  of  the  nation  must  be  one,  and  give  no  uncer- 
tain sound.  The  internal  resources  must  be  gathered  into 
one  treasury.  The  police,  the  taxes,  must  be  recognized  as 
national,  and  not  as  belonging  to  one  petty  chief  here  and 
there.  The  army  and  nav'y  required  reconstruction;  and 
the  power  of  the  feudal  lords  would  have  to  be  broken  down 
in  order  to  be  reconstituted  into  one  strong  state  under  one 
head. 

The  new  Shiogoon,  Yoshi  hisa,  attempted  to  assume  the 
power  with  the  position  held  by  his  ancestors,  but  he  was 
too  late.  His  only  true  policy  was  to  stand  beside  and  sup- 
port the  Emperor  while  the  lower  chiefs  impoverished  them- 
selves by  fighting.  He  attempted  to  take  a  side  against  the 
Emperor,  but  not  being  aided  by  a  strong  party,  he  was 


HISTORY   OF  EMPIRE   CONTINUED.  361 

forced  in  1867  to  give  way,  and  by  abdicating  retire  into 
temporary  obscurity. 

To  add  still  more  to  the  critical  position  of  affairs  in  Japan 
at  this  time,  the  Emperor  died,  being  about  thirty-eight  years 
of  age,  and  leaving  a  young  boy  as  his  heir  and  successor. 
It  does  not  clearly  appear  who  has  been  pulling  the  strings 
of  political  action  on  the  part  of  the  boy-Emperor ;  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  two  Daimios  to  whom  Yedo 
was  the  most  grievous  offense,  and  whose  ancestors  had 
smarted  from  the  rise  of  the  Tokungawa  family  under 
lyeyas,  Satsuma  and  Choshiu,  have  not  been  idle.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  wealthy  Daimios  from  the  north — Sendai, 
and  other  Kamong  or  relatives  of  that  family — seemed  de- 
termined to  uphold  the  position  of  the  family,  and  carry  out 
the  principles  of  lyeyas  at  all  hazards.  Between  these  par- 
ties the  Shiogoon,  who  is  said  to  be  an  able  man,  tried  to 
steer  a  neutral  course  until  he  saw  what  would  turn  up. 
At  length  he  came  to  think  that  submission  to  the  Emperor 
was  the  true  policy  for  himself  and  for  the  empire,  and 
he  humbly  placed  himself  at  the  disposal  of  the  Emperor 
rather  than  involve  the  country  in  another  civil  war.  His 
submission  was  accepted  by  the  Emperor  in  the  following 
terms : 

"The  conduct  of  Tokungawa  Yoshi  hisa  having  proceeded 
to  such  an  extreme  as  to  be  properly  called  an  insult  to  the 
whole  empire,  and  having  caused  the  deepest  pain  to  the 
mind  of  the  Emperor,  both  sea  and  land  forces  were  sent  to 
punish  him.  Hearing,  however,  that  he  is  sincerely  peni- 
tent, and  lives  in  retirement,  the  excess  of  the  imperial  com- 
passion shall  be  exhausted,  and  the  following  commands  be 
enjoined  upon  him.  Let  him  be  respectfully  obedient  to 
them.  A  period  of  eleven  days  is  granted  him  in  which 
to  comply  with  all  these  orders. 

"1st,  Yoshi  hisa  having,  on  the  12th  month  of  the  last 
year,  and  afterward,  insulted  the  Emperor,  attacked  the 
imperial  city,  and  fired  upon  the  imperial  flag,  was  guilty 
of  a  most  heinous  crime.  The  army  was  accordingly  sent 

16 


362  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

out  to  pursue  and  punish  him.  But  as  he  has  manifested 
sincere  contrition  and  obedience,  has  shut  himself  up  in  re- 
tirement, and  begs  that  his  crime  may  be  pardoned :  in  con- 
sideration of  the  no  small  merit  of  his  family,  which,  since 
the  time  of  his  ancestors,  for  more  than  two  hundred  years 
has  administered  the  affairs  of  government,  and  more  espe- 
cially of  the  accumulated  meritorious  services  of  Mito  zo 
Dainagoon  [the  father  of  Yoshi  hisa,  and  rival  of  the  Re- 
gent]; for  these  various  considerations,  of  which  we  are 
most  profoundly  sensible,  we  give  him  the  following  com- 
mands, which  if  he  obeys  we  will  deal  leniently  with  him, 
grant  that  the  house  of  Tokungawa  be  established  [i.e.,  not 
destroyed  from  the  list  of  Daimios],  remit  the  capital  punish- 
ment his  crimes  deserve,  but  command  him  to  go  to  the 
castle  of  Mito,  and  there  live  shut  up  in  retirement. 

"2d,  The  castle  [of  the  Shiogoon  in  Yedo]  to  be  vacated, 
and  delivered  over  to  the  Prince  of  Owarri. 

"3d,  All  the  ships  of  war,  cannon  and  small  arms  to  be 
delivered  up;  when  a  proper  proportion  shall  be  returned 
[to  the  head  of  the  house  of  Tokungawa,  which  is  reduced 
to  the  rank  of  an  ordinary  Daimio]. 

"4th,  The  retainers  living  in  the  castle  shall  move  out 
and  go  into  retirement. 

"5th,  To  all  those  who  have  aided  Yoshi  hisa,  although 
their  crimes  are  worthy  of  the  severest  punishment,  the  sen- 
tence of  death  shall  be  remitted,  but  they  are  to  receive  such 
other  punishment  as  you  shall  decide  on.  Let  this  be  re- 
ported to  the  imperial  government.  This,  however,  does 
not  include  those  persons  who  have  an  income  of  more  than 
10,000  koku — i.e.,  Daimios;  the  imperial  government  alone 
will  punish  such." 

An  important  political  step  has  been  taken  within  the  last 
few  months,  during  the  present  year  1869.  The  Daimios 
appear  to  have  become  aware  of  the  weakness  which  inevi- 
tably accompanies  division,  and  of  the  strength  which  would 
be  gained  to  the  country  by  consolidation  and  unification 
under  one  head.  The  threatening  position  taken  up  by  some 


FOLLO  WING  ABOLITION  OF  THE  SHIOGOONATE.       363 

or  all  of  the  foreign  nations  with  whom  treaties  of  friendship 
had  been  concluded  brought  up  the  subject  at  some  of  the 
recent  great  councils.  The  crushing  defeats  which  had 
fallen  upon  Satsuma  and  Choshiu  warned  individual  Dai- 
mios  of  their  weakness  as  units  in  carrying  on  operations  of 
war ;  the  enormous  expense  entailed  upon  them  in  procuring 
munitions  of  war,  and  in  exercise,  and  in  the  purchase  of 
steamers,  alarmed  these  lords  in  the  prospect  of  annihilation 
from  exhaustion,  and  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  such 
expenses  could  only  be  borne  by  the  empire  as  a  whole,  and 
that  to  gain  such  an  advantage  the  privileges  of  the  class 
must  in  some  degree  be  given  up.  The  removal  of  the  Shio- 
goon  presented  a  favorable  opportunity  for  carrying  out  the 
proposal,  and  they  agreed  heartily  to  restore  all  their  fiefs 
into  the  hands  of  the  Emperor,  and  to  give  up  the  exclusive 
privileges  which  each  held  in  his  own  state,  that  these  might 
all  be  thrown  into  one  government,  with  one  exchequer,  one 
army,  and  one  navy.  The  latest  accounts  confirm  this  ces- 
sion of  their  independent  rights — in  which  cession  Satsuma, 
the  most  powerful,  but  the  Daimio  who  suffered  most  from 
the  independent  system  in  the  very  severe  punishment  which 
he  received  in  loss  of  men,  destruction  of  steamers,  and  pay- 
ment of  indemnity,  with  total  loss  of  prestige  and  position  as 
a  military  power,  has  been  foremost.  It  is  therefore  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  henceforth  there  will  be  only  one  re- 
sponsible ruling  power  hi  Japan. 


CHAPTER  XII 

EVENTS  FOLLOWING  THE   ABOLITION   OF  THE   SHIOGOONATE 

MR.  DICKSON'S  history  was  published  in  1869.  During 
the  thirty  years  that  have  since  elapsed  we  have  witnessed 
a  complete  transformation  of  Japan.  To  make  intelligible 
the  sequence  of  events,  it  may  be  well  to  describe  more  in 
detail  the  incidents  which  preceded,  attended  and  immedi- 


364  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

ately  followed  the  downfall  of  the  Tokungawa  Shiogoonate 
which,  for  more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries,  had  pos- 
sessed the  substance  of  power  in  Japan,  only  the  shadow 
thereof  being  retained  by  the  Mikado.  Within  less  than  a 
year  after  January  6,  1867,  when  Keiki  had  been  made  Shio- 
goon,  much  against  his  will,  the  Prince  of  Tosa  and  many 
able  representatives  of  the  Daimio  and  Samurai  castes  urged 
him  to  resign  and  permit  a  government  to  be  constituted  on 
the  principles  which  had  prevailed  in  the  anti-Shiogoon  era, 
namely,  before  the  year  A.D.  1200.  In  November,  1867, 
Keiki  so  far  yielded  to  public  opinion  BS  to  tender  his  resig- 
nation ;  but,  as  the  Aidzu  clan,  which  was  stanchly  loyal  to 
him,  continued  to  guard  the  Mikado's  palace,  it  remained  for 
a  time  uncertain  whether  Keiki  might  not  resume  his  func- 
tions. Ultimately,  a  combination  was  formed  by  the  Sat- 
suma,  Choshiu,  Tosa,  Etsizen  and  other  clans,  whereby  the 
followers  of  the  Tokungawa  family  were  expelled  from  the 
imperial  palace  and  an  edict  was  issued  in  the  name  of 
the  young  Mikado,  Mutsuhite,  to  the  effect  that  the  office 
of  Shiogoon  was  abolished,  and  that  the  government  of 
Japan  would  be  henceforth  carried  on  by  the  Mikado  him- 
self. A  provisional  administration  was  appointed,  and  all 
the  important  civil  and  military  posts  were  allotted  to  un- 
flinching upholders  of  the  prospective  regime.  The  ex- Shio- 
goon, however,  was  persuaded  by  his  retainers  to  retract  his 
resignation,  and,  at  the  head  of  a  large  force,  he  undertook 
to  re-enter  Kioto  [Miako]  for  the  purpose  of  reasserting  his 
former  authority.  After  a  battle,  which  lasted  three  days, 
he  was  beaten  by  the  loyal  troops  and  was  forced  to  take 
refuge  in  his  castle,  where  he  announced  that  he  would 
never  again  take  up  arms  against  the  Mikado.  Neverthe- 
less, the  Tokungawa  clan  showed,  for  a  time,  signs  of  dis- 
affection; but  by  July  1,  1869,  all  vestiges  of  rebellion  had 
ceased  and  the  Mikado's  party  was  triumphant.  The  trials 
of  the  new  government  now  began.  The  Kuge,  or  court 
nobles,  and  the  whole  body  of  Samurai,  or  two-sworded 
men,  desired  to  drive  foreigners  out  of  the  country,  but 


FOLLOWING  ABOLITION  OF  THE  SHIOGOONATE.       365 

Okubo,  Goto  and  Kido,  who  were  conversant  with  foreign 
ideas,  opposed  the  execution  of  the  plan  and  sent  a  noble  of 
the  imperial  court  to  give  the  Mikado's  consent  to  the  treat- 
ies and  to  invite  the  foreign  Ministers  to  an  audience  with 
the  Emperor  in  Kioto.  The  conversion  of  the  court  nobles 
to  the  party  that  desired  to  see  Japan  reconstructed  on 
European  principles  now  went  on  rapidly,  and  the  young 
Mikado  was  induced  to  appear  in  person  before  the  Council 
of  State  and  to  promise  that  a  deliberative  assembly  should 
be  eventually  formed.  Indicative  of  an  intention  to  revolu- 
tionize the  mode  of  government  was  the  Emperor's  depart- 
ure from  Kioto,  which  had  been  the  seat  of  his  ancestors  for 
twenty-five  centuries,  and  his  adoption  of  Yedo,  thenceforth 
called  Tokio,  for  his  capital.  To  a  considerable  extent,  free- 
dom of  the  press  was  now  guaranteed,  and  a  number  of  news- 
papers sprung  up.  Books  expounding  European  methods  of 
thought  and  education  were  published,  and  many  pamphlets 
advocating  the  abolition  of  feudalism  appeared.  Four  of 
the  great  Daimios,  or  feudal  lords,  advocated  the  change. 
They  addressed  a  memorial  to  the  throne  offering  to  restore 
the  registers  of  their  clans  and  proposing  that  the  Mikado 
should  resume  possession  of  their  fiefs.  In  conformity  to 
this  request,  an  edict  was  issued  in  September,  1871,  sum- 
moning the  Daimios  to  Tokio  for  the  purpose  of  arranging 
their  retirement  to  private  life.  With  scarcely  an  exception, 
the  order  was  obeyed ;  even  the  Daimios  who  disapproved  of 
the  measure  were  unwilling  to  oppose  the  resolute  men  who 
had  framed  the  edict.  The  truth  is  that,  even  under  the 
feudal  system,  the  real  power  in  each  clan  had  lain  in  the 
hands  of  able  men  of  inferior  rank  who  ruled  their  nominal 
masters.  These  are  the  men  who,  during  the  last  thirty 
years,  have  controlled  Japan.  Having  first  driven  the  Shio- 
goon  into  private  life,  they  then  compelled  the  Daimios  to 
follow  him  into  retirement.  Of  the  men  who  have  governed 
the  country  since  1868,  not  one  is  a  Daimio  by  birth,  and 
only  two  or  three  are  Kuge,  or  court  nobles.  Almost  all 
were  simple  Samurai,  or  retainers  of  the  territorial  lords. 


366  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

It  should  be  mentioned  that,  in  1869,  the  Emperor  re- 
turned to  Kioto  for  a  brief  visit,  in  order  to  perform  certain 
ceremonies  at  his  father's  tomb,  and,  during  his  sojourn  in 
the  western  capital,  he  married  the  present  Empress,  who 
was  a  princess  of  one  of  the  five  regent  families,  from  which 
the  highest  officers  under  the  Mikado  have  always  been  se- 
lected, and  from  which  the  emperors  have  habitually  chosen 
their  wives. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Emperor  had  promised  to  convoke 
a  deliberative  assembly.  This  promise  was,  at  first,  kept  to 
the  ear,  rather  than  the  hope.  A  so-called  Kogisho  or  Parlia- 
ment was  formed  of  persons  representing  each  of  the  Daimi- 
ates,  and  designated  for  the  position  by  the  Daimios.  It  was 
a  mere  debating  society,  whose  function  was  to  give  advice 
to  the  imperial  government.  How  conservative  the  advice 
given  by  this  body  was  may  be  measured  by  the  fact  that  it 
refused  to  recommend  the  abolition  of  the  privilege  of  hari- 
kari,  or  of  the  custom  of  wearing  swords.  This  Kogisho 
lasted  only  for  some  months,  being  dissolved  in  the  autumn 
of  the  same  year  in  which  it  was  created. 

Soon  after  the  suppression  of  the  feudal  system  in  Japan, 
the  Daimiates,  considered  as  administrative  areas,  were  su- 
perseded by  Prefectures.  At  first,  the  ex-Daimios  were  ap- 
pointed Prefects,  but  most  of  them  were  soon  found  to  be 
unfit  for  high  executive  office,  and  they  have  been  gradually 
replaced  by  competent  persons  drawn  from  the  Samurai  class. 
It  should  further  be  noted  that  the  extinction  of  feudalism 
imposed  some  onerous  financial  obligations.  It  was  decided 
that  each  ex-Daimio,  and  each  of  the  sub-feudatories  that 
had  been  dependent  on  him,  should  receive  one-tenth  of  the 
income  which  they  had  drawn  from  their  fiefs.  This  income 
was  to  be  free  from  any  claim  for  the  support  of  the  Samurai 
who  had  formed  the  standing  army  in  each  clan.  The  cen- 
tral government  undertook  to  make  all  payments  to  the  Sa- 
murai for  services  of  any  kind.  The  assumption  of  this  bur- 
den compelled  the  government  to  borrow  $165,000,000.  In 
view  of  the  pensions  which  they  had  formerly  received,  lump 


FOLLOWING  ABOLITION  OF  THE  SHIOGOONATE.       367 

sums  were  given  to  the  Samurai,  but  these  were  soon  squan- 
dered, and  much  poverty  and  want  were  eventually  experi- 
enced by  the  ex-feudal  retainers.  Among  other  remarkable 
events  which  took  place  in  1871,  should  be  mentioned  the 
removal  of  the  ancient  disqualification  of  the  eta  and  hei- 
min,  whereby  these  pariah  castes  were  placed  on  the  same 
legal  footing  as  the  rest  of  the  population.  In  the  following 
year,  the  first  railway  in  Japan  was  opened.  This  was  a 
line  between  Yokohama  and  Tokio.  In  1873,  the  European 
calendar  was  adopted,  so  far  as  the  beginning  of  the  year 
and  the  beginning  of  the  months  are  concerned.  The  year 
is  still  reckoned,  however,  from  Jimmu  Tenno,  which  is  1873 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  corresponds  to  the  year  2533  of  the 
Japanese  era.  Still  employed  occasionally,  also,  is  the  Meiji 
year-period,  which  began  in  1868. 

From  the  beginning  of  1872,  the  remodeling  of  the  Jap- 
anese system  of  education  was  undertaken.  In  April  of 
that  year,  the  Mikado,  Mutsuhito,  visited  the  Imperial  Col- 
lege, subsequently  to  be  known  as  the  Imperial  University. 
The  new  buildings  consisted  of  three  wings,  each  192  feet 
long,  joined  to  a  main  edifice  324  feet  in  length.  The  stu- 
dents in  this  institution  soon  numbered  350,  taught  by  20 
foreign  professors.  The  foreign  language  school,  in  which 
pupils  learned  English  or  some  other  European  language, 
preparatory  to  entering  the  college,  presently  had  600  stu- 
dents and  20  foreign  teachers.  For  educational  purposes, 
the  empire  was  divided  into  eight  districts,  in  each  of  which 
a  university  was  contemplated,  which  was  to  be  supplied  by 
210  secondary  schools  of  foreign  languages.  It  was  ar- 
ranged that  the  elementary  vernacular  schools  should  num- 
ber 53,000,  or  one  for  every  600  persons  in  Japan.  To  these 
elementary  establishments  were  to  be  deputed  native  teach- 
ers trained  in  normal  schools.  Before  many  years  had 
passed,  the  school  attendance  was  computed  at  three 
millions. 

During  the  year  1872,  two  legations  and  three  consulates 
were  established  abroad.  Before  long,  the  number  was  in- 


368  HISTORY    OF  JAPAN. 

creased  to  ten.  The  Japanese  press  quickly  emerged  from 
the  realm  of  experiment  and  became  a  powerful  civilizing 
force.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  ten  daily  newspapers 
in  the  capital  and  200  publications  in  the  empire,  equipped 
with  metal  type  and  printing  presses,  began  to  flood  the 
country  with  information  and  awaken  thought.  In  the  de- 
partment of  jurisprudence,  also,  great  progress  was  made. 
Since  the  restoration  of  the  Mikado  to  actual  power,  revised 
statutes  have  greatly  decreased  the  list  of  capital  punish- 
ments; the  condition  of  the  prisons  has  been  ameliorated; 
legal  processes  have  been  improved  from  the  viewpoint  of 
justice,  and  the  use  of  torture  to  obtain  testimony  has  been 
entirely  abolished.  Law  schools  were  established,  and  to 
accused  persons  was  given  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  their 
defense.  By  the  year  1874,  there  had  been  a  great  change 
for  the  better  in  the  diet,  clothing,  and  hygienic  protection 
of  the  people.  In  the  year  named,  there  were  in  the  empire 
one  government  hospital  and  twenty-one  hospitals  assisted 
by  government  grants,  twenty-nine  private  hospitals,  5,247 
physicians  practicing  according  to  the  principles  and  meth- 
ods of  Western  science,  and  5,205  apothecaries.  In  1875, 
there  were  325  students  in  the  medical  colleges  at  Tokio 
and  Nagasaki,  and  there  were  some  twenty-five  foreign  sur- 
geons and  physicians  in  the  employ  of  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment. Public  decency  was  improved  and  the  standards  of 
Christendom  approached.  The  sale  of  orphan  female  chil- 
dren to  brothel  keepers,  the  traffic  in  native  or  European 
obscene  pictures,  lascivious  dances,  the  exhibition  of  nude 
singing  girls,  the  custom  of  promiscuous  bathing  in  the  pub- 
lic baths,  and  the  toleration  of  nakedness  on  the  part  of  the 
rural  coolies  were  brought  to  an  end.  Religious  persecution 
ceased.  All  the  native  Christians  who  had  been  exiled  or 
imprisoned  in  1868-69  were  set  free  and  restored  to  their 
villages.  We  note,  finally,  that,  as  early  as  1876,  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  promise  made  by  the  Mikado  in  1868,  that 
"intellect  and  learning  should  be  sought  for  throughout  the 
world,"  had  been  so  far  fulfilled  that  400  foreigners  from 


FOLLOWING  ABOLITION  OF  THE  SHIOGOONATE.      369 

many  Western  countries  had  been  invited  to  occupy  posts  in 
the  government  civil  sevice.  In  1870,  there  had  been  not 
ten  Protestant  Christians  in  the  empire.  By  May,  1876, 
there  were  ten  Protestant  churches,  with  a  membership  of 
800  souls.  In  March  of  the  year  just  named,  Prime  Minis- 
ter Sanjo  issued  a  proclamation  abolishing  the  custom  of 
wearing  two  swords.  This  measure,  which  had  been  first 
advocated  by  Arinori  Mori  in  1870,  now  became  law  through- 
out the  land.  It  was  in  August,  1876,  that  the  commutation 
of  the  hereditary  pensions  and  life  incomes  of  the  Sumarai, 
which  previously  had  been  optional,  was  made  compulsory. 
This  act  forced  the  privileged  classes  to  begin  to  earn  their 
bread.  In  the  same  month,  the  empire  was  redivided  and 
the  68  Ken,  or  Prefectures,  were  reduced  in  number  to  35. 
It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  progressive  course  of  the 
Mikado's  Ministers  would  excite  some  disaffection.  There 
were  during  this  year  some  insurrections  on  the  part  not 
only  of  discontented  Samurai,  but  also  of  the  farmers  on 
whom  the  burdens  of  taxation  mainly  fell.  It  was  to  re- 
dress the  grievances  of  the  agricultural  class  that,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1877,  the  national  land  tax  was  reduced  from  3  to  Z% 
per  cent,  while  the  local  tax,  which  had  formerly  amounted 
to  one-third  of  the  land  tax,  was  cut  down  to  one-fifth. 
About  the  same  time,  the  salaries  of  nearly  all  the  govern- 
ment officers  were  diminished,  several  thousand  office-holders 
were  discharged,  the  Department  of  Revision  and  the  Pre- 
fecture of  Police  were  abolished,  and  their  functions  were 
transferred  to  the  Home  Department.  An  annual  saving  of 
about  eight  million  dollars  was  thus  effected,  and  the  loss  to 
the  Treasury  from  the  curtailment  of  land  taxation  was  made 
good.  In  1877,  however,  a  great  rebellion  broke  out  in 
Satsuma,  instigated  by  Saigo  Takamori,  who  had  been 
formerly  a  marshal  of  the  empire.  After  a  contest  of  some 
months,  the  imperial  authority  was  everywhere  re-estab- 
lished, and  Saigo,  at  his  own  request,  was  beheaded  by  one 
of  his  friends.  This  insurrection  represented  the  final  strug- 
gle between  the  forces  of  feudalism  and  misrule  against 


370  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

order  and  unity.  The  contest  cost  Japan  $50,000,000  and 
many  thousands  of  lives.  In  the  ultimate  treatment  of  the 
rebels,  the  government  displayed  a  spirit  of  leniency  worthy 
of  an  enlightened  state.  Of  upward  of  38,000  persons  tried 
in  Kiushiu,  only  twenty  were  decapitated,  about  1,800  were 
condemned  to  imprisonment,  and  some  36,000  were  pardoned. 
During  the  same  year,  ]  877,  the  cholera  broke  out  in  Japan, 
but,  owing  to  the  enforcement  of  sanitary  measures,  there 
were  but  6,297  deaths. 

The  Mikado  had  now  been  governing  Japan  for  ten  years 
by  means  of  an  irresponsible  Ministry.  The.  oath  which  he 
had  taken  at  Kioto  in  1868  to  form  a  deliberative  assembly 
had  never  been  fully  carried  out.  We  have  seen  that  the 
Kogisho,  or  advisory  body,  called  into  existence  in  1868, 
had  been  dissolved  in  the  same  year.  Subsequently,  in 
1875,  a  Senate  had  been  established  and  an  assembly  of  the 
ken  governors,  or  prefects,  held  one  session.  The  meetings 
of  the  latter  body,  however,  were  soon  indefinitely  post- 
poned. Nevertheless,  the  era  of  personal  government  was 
drawing  to  a  close.  On  July  22, 1878,  a  long  step  was  taken 
toward  representative  institutions  by  an  edict  convoking  pro- 
vincial parliaments  or  local  assemblies  which  were  to  sit  once 
a  year  in  each  ken  or  province.  Under  the  supervision  of 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  these  bodies  were  empowered  to 
discuss  questions  of  local  taxation,  and  to  petition  the  central 
government  on  other  matters  of  local  interest.  There  were 
both  educational  and  property  qualifications  of  the  franchise. 
Each  voter  had  to  prove  his  ability  to  read  and  write,  and  he 
must  have  paid  an  annual  land  tax  of  at  least  five  dollars. 
In  October,  1881,  the  Mikado  announced  by  a  proclamation 
that,  in  1890,  a  Parliament  would  be  established.  In  June, 
1884,  an  edict  was  issued  readjusting  the  system  of  nobility. 
In  the  newly  created  orders  of  princes,  marquises,  counts, 
viscounts  and  barons,  were  observed  the  names  of  many  men 
who  had  once  belonged  to  the  class  of  Samurai,  or  gentry, 
but  who  had  earned  promotion  by  distinguished  services  on 
behalf  of  their  country.  Three  hundred  persons,  that  may 


FOLLOWING  ABOLITION  OF  THE  SH1OOOONATE.      371 

be  described  as  pertaining  to  the  aristocracy  of  intellect,  were 
thus  ennobled  on  the  score  of  merit.  It  was  expected  that 
out  of  these  newly  created  nobles  would  be  constituted  the 
upper  house,  or  Chamber  of  Notables,  in  the  Parliament 
which  was  to  come  into  being  in  1890.  In  December,  1885, 
the  triple  premiership,  the  Privy  Council  and  the  Ministries, 
as  they  had  been  hitherto  established,  came  to  an  end.  In 
their  place  was  created  a  Cabinet  at  the  head  of  which  was 
a  Minister-President.  The  old  government  boards,  together 
with  a  new  board,  which  was  to  supervise  the  post-office, 
telegraph  and  railway,  were  organized  in  such  a  way  as  to 
discharge  many  thousand  office-holders.  All  the  members 
of  the  new  Cabinet  were  men  of  modern  ideas,  and  such 
Asiatic  features  as  the  government  had  hitherto  retained 
were  now  extinguished.  By  1886,  notable  progress  had  been 
made  in  the  applications  of  steam  and  electricity.  Of  rail- 
roads there  were  already  265  miles  open,  271  miles  in  course 
of  construction,  and  543  miles  contemplated.  Although  these 
lines  were  built  and  equipped  on  British  models,  most  of  the 
surveying,  engineering  and  constructive  work  and  all  of  the 
mechanical  labor  were  performed  by  natives.  The  trains 
and  engines  were  worked  by  Japanese ;  such  light  materials 
as  were  made  of  wood  and  metal  were  manufactured  in  Japan, 
only  the  heavy  castings,  the  rails  and  the  engines  being 
brought  from  Great  Britain.  The  telephone  and  the  electric 
light  were  now  seen  in  the  large  cities,  and  four  cables  con- 
nected the  island  empire  with  the  Asiatic  mainland.  Already 
the  Japan  Mail  Shipping  Company  employed  a  large  fleet  of 
steamships  and  sailing  vessels  in  their  coasting,  trade  and  pas- 
senger lines.  We  add  that,  in  1885,  the  Postal  Department 
forwarded  nearly  100,000,000  letters  and  packages. 

The  Japanese  had,  for  some  time,  recognized  that  educa- 
tion is  the  basis  of  progress,  and  that  their  efforts  for  intel- 
lectual advancement  were  seriously  impeded  by  their  use  of 
the  Chinese  graphic  system.  They  perceived  that  what  they 
needed  most  of  all  was  an  alphabet.  In  1884,  the  Roma-ji- 
Kai,  or  Roman  Letter  Association,  was  formed  in  Tokio, 


372  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

and,  within  two  years,  had  6,000  members,  native  and  for- 
eign. As  their  name  implies,  their  purpose  was  to  supplant 
the  Chinese  character  and  native  syllabary  by  the  Roman 
alphabet,  as  the  vehicle  of  Japanese  thought.  It  was  dem- 
onstrated that  all  possible  sounds  and  vocal  combinations 
could  be  expressed  by  using  twenty-two  Roman  letters.  It 
was  further  proved  that,  by  means  of  the  Roman  alphabet, 
a  child  could  learn  to  read  the  colloquial  and  book  language 
in  one-tenth  of  the  time  formerly  required.  Scarcely  was 
the  Roman  Letter  Association  under  way  than  it  printed  a 
newspaper,  edited  text-books,  and  transliterated  popular  and 
classic  texts  in  the  appropriate  characters  of  the  Roman 
alphabet.  By  an  imperial  decree,  issued  in  November,  1884, 
the  English  language  was  made  part  of  the  order  of  study 
in  the  common  schools.  Meanwhile,  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity acquired  considerable  momentum.  Not  only  were 
many  converts  made  by  Catholic  missionaries,  but,  by  the 
end  of  1885,  there  were  200  Protestant  churches,  with  a 
membership  of  over  13,000.  In  December,  1885,  the  Mi- 
kado's Cabinet  was  reorganized,  and,  during  the  next  four 
years,  Ito  and  Inouye  were  the  principal  molders  of  the  na- 
tional policy.  In  April,  1888,  a  new  body  called  the  Privy 
Council  was  created,  of  which  Ito  became  President,  while 
Kuroda  filled  the  position  of  Prime  Minister.  In  this  body, 
active  debate  upon  the  forthcoming  Constitution  began  in 
May  of  the  year  last-named,  and  proceeded  until  February 
11,  1889,  when  the  long-awaited  instrument  was  proclaimed. 
Exactly  thirty-five  years  after  the  American  treaty-ships  ap- 
peared in  sight  of  Idzu,  the  Mikado,  Mutsuhito,  took  oath 
to  maintain  the  government  according  to  the  Constitution, 
the  documents  defining  which  he,  before  an  audience  of 
nobles,  officials  and  foreign  envoys,  handed  to  Kuroda,  the 
principal  Minister  of  State.  On  this  occasion,  for  the  first 
time  in  Japan's  history,  the  Emperor  rode  beside  the  Em- 
press in  public.  The  one  blot  upon  the  record  of  the  day 
was  the  assassination  of  the  Minister  of  Education,  Arinori 
Mori,  by  a  Shintoist  fanatic. 


FOLLOWING  ABOLITION  OF  THE  SHIOQOONATE.       373 

Let  us  glance  at  some  of  the  features  of  Japan's  funda- 
mental organic  law.  The  Constitution  proper  consists  of 
sixty-six  articles,  but,  simultaneously  with  it,  two  hundred 
and  sixty-six  expositionary  laws  were  proclaimed.  In  the 
first  place,  the  Mikado's  person  was  declared  sacred  and  in- 
violable. In  him  continued  to  be  concentrated  the  rights  of 
sovereignty,  which,  however,  he  was  to  exercise  according 
to  the  provisions  of  the  organic  law.  A  Diet  or  Parliament 
was  created  to  meet  once  a  year,  and  to  be  opened,  closed, 
prorogued  and  dissolved  by  the  Emperor.  Its  debates  are 
public.  The  Mikado's  Ministers  may  take  seats  and  speak 
in  either  House,  but  are  accountable,  not  to  the  Diet,  but  to 
the  Emperor  alone.  Bills  raising  revenue  and  appropriating 
the  same  require  the  consent  of  the  Diet,  but  certain  fixed 
expenditures,  provided  for  by  the  Constitution,  cannot  be 
abolished  or  curtailed  without  the  concurrence  of  the  Execu- 
tive. To  a  large  extent,  the  power  over  the  purse  is  thus 
withheld  from  the  representatives  of  the  people.  The  tenure 
of  judges  is  for  good  behavior.  The  Upper  House  'consists 
partly  of  hereditary,  partly  of  elected,  and  partly  of  nomi- 
nated members ;  the  combined  number,  however,  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  two  last-named  classes  is  not  to  exceed  that  of 
those  who  hold  heritable  titles  of  nobility.  The  House  of 
Representatives  consists  of  about  300  members,  who  serve 
four  years.  For  them  there  is  a  property  qualification ;  they 
must  pay  annually  national  taxes  to  the  amount  of  fifteen 
yen  or  dollars.  Those  who  elect  them  must  also  pay  na- 
tional taxes  to  the  same  amount.  Those  persons  who  pay 
taxes  to  the  amount  of  over  five  yen  are  entitled  to  vote  for 
members  of  the  local  assembly.  These  numbered,  in  1887, 
about  1,500,000,  whereas  the  electorate  of  the  national  House 
of  Representatives  numbered  only  about  300,000.  We  ob- 
serve, lastly,  that  certain  fundamental  rights  were  guaran- 
teed to  the  Japanese  people.  They  have,  for  instance,  the 
right  of  changing  their  domicile.  Except  according  to  law, 
they  are  not  to  be  arrested,  detained  or  punished.  They  are 
also  to  enjoy  the  right  of  freedom  from  search,  the  inviola- 


374  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

bility  of  letters,  freedom  of  religious  belief  and  the  liberty 
of  speech,  petition,  writing,  publishing,  association  and  public 
meeting  within  the  limits  of  laws  to  be  laid  down  by  the 
national  Parliament. 

The  threefold  election — namely,  for  a  fraction  of  the  Up- 
per House,  for  the  whole  of  the  national  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  for  the  local  assembly — took  place  in  July, 
1890.  About  eighty-five  per  cent  of  eligible  voters  availed 
themselves  of  the  franchise,  and  there  was  a  great  superflu- 
ity of  candidates.  It  turned  out  at  the  ballot-box  that  to  be 
in  any  way  connected  with  government  employment  was  to 
invite  almost  certain  defeat,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  few 
of  the  old  party  leaders  were  chosen  as  standard-bearers  in 
the  new  Parliamentary  field.  We  add  that,  on  April  22, 
1890,  a  new  code  of  civil  procedure,  and  the  first  portion  of 
a  Civil  Code,  were  promulgated;  since  1881,  a  new  Criminal 
Code  based  on  the  principles  of  Western  jurisprudence  has 
been  in  successful  operation. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

FOREIGN  POLICY   OF  NEW  JAPAN  AND   WAR  WITH   CHINA 

IT  will  be  convenient  to  consider  separately  the  foreign 
policy  which  was  gradually  evolved  after  the  transformation 
of  Japan  that  followed  the  Mikado's  resumption  of  actual 
power.  Scarcely  had  the  Shiogoon  been  overthrown  than 
the  desire  of  conquest  and  expansion  was  reawakened.  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  advanced  school  of  Japanese  ideas  pres- 
ently maintained  that  the  national  jurisdiction  should  include 
not  only  Yezo,  Saghalien  and  the  Bonin  islands,  but  also 
Corea  and  the  eastern  part  of  Formosa,  the  last  claim  being 
based  upon  settlements  made  by  the  Japanese.  The  Bourn 
islands,  first  occupied  by  Ogasawara,  a  Daimio,  in  1593,  and 
visited  by  a  party  of  explorers  from  Nagasaki  in  1675,  had 
been  neglected  by  the  Japanese  for  centuries,  though  long  a 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  NEW  JAPAN.  375 

noted  resort  of  whalers.  In  1878,  the  islands  were  formally 
reoccupied  in  the  name  of  the  Mikado,  and  a  local  govern- 
ment established  by  Japanese  officers.  Saghalien  and  the 
Kurile  islands  had  been  a  debatable  ground  between  the 
Japanese  and  the  Russians  since  1790,  and  had  been  the  scene 
of  a  good  deal  of  bloodshed.  In  1875,  Admiral  Enomoto  con- 
cluded at  St.  Petersburg  a  convention  by  which  Russia  re- 
ceived the  whole  of  Saghalien,  while  Japan  obtained  all  the 
Kurile  islands.  The  large  island  of  Yezo  was  administered 
by  a  special  department  until  the  year  1882,  when  it  was 
divided  into  three  ken,  or  prefectures,  which  are  governed 
like  the  rest  of  the  empire.  Let  us  glance,  next,  at  Japan's 
assumption  of  sovereignty  over  the  little  island  kingdom  of 
Riu  Kiu,  or  Loo  Choo,  an  assumption  which  subjected  the 
relations  between  China  and  Japan  to  severe  tension.  These 
islands  are  strung  like  a  long  thread  between  Japan  and  For- 
mosa. For  many  centuries,  these  islanders  sent  tribute  to 
both  China  and  Japan.  Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  Hideyoshi  demanded  that  they  should  pay  tribute 
to  Japan  alone;  but  he  never  enforced  his  demands.  In 
1609,  lyehisa,  the  Daimio  of  Satsuma,  conquered  the  islands, 
and  made  their  chiefs  swear  allegiance  to  his  house  and  to 
the  Shiogoon.  Between  1611  and  1850,  no  fewer  than  fifteen 
embassies  from  Riu  Kiu  visited  Yedo  to  obtain  investiture 
for  the  island  king,  or  to  congratulate  a  Shiogoon  upon  his 
accession  to  power.  The  same  policy,  however,  was  pursued 
toward  China  also.  After  the  revolution  of  1868  the  Loo 
Choo  islands  were  made  a  dependency  of  the  Japanese  em- 
pire, and  the  king  acknowledged  the  Mikado  for  his  suze- 
rain. Some  five  years  later,  the  Japanese  reduced  the  king 
to  the  status  of  a  retired  Daimio,  and  transformed  Riu  Kiu 
into  a  ken,  or  prefecture.  To  this  the  islanders  objected,  and 
continued  to  send  a  tribute-junk  to  Ningpo,  and  implored 
China's  interposition.  The  Pekin  government,  on  its  part, 
considered  that  Japan,  by  its  annexation  of  the  Loo  Choo 
islands,  had  wrongfully  cut  off  a  fringe  of  the  robe  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom. 


376  HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

Let  us  now  glance  at  Japan's  connection  with  Formosa, 
before  examining,  somewhat  in  detail,  her  much  more  im- 
portant relations  to  Corea.  It  was  toward  the  end  of  1873 
that  a  Loo  Choo  junk  was  wrecked  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Formosa;  the  crew  were  killed  by  the  savage  inhabitants 
of  that  region,  and,  as  it  was  reported,  eaten.  The  Loo 
Choo  islanders  appealed  to  their  hereditary  suzerain  at  Sat- 
suma,  who  referred  the  matter  to  Tokio.  As  it  happened, 
China  laid  no  claim  to  the  eastern  part  of  Formosa,  and  no 
trace  of  it  appeared  on  the  maps  of  the  Middle  Kingdom. 
In  the  spring  of  1874,  the  Mikado  dispatched  Soyejima  as 
Embassador  to  Pekin,  and  his  representative  there  obtained 
an  audience  with  the  Chinese  Emperor.  The  Tsungli  Yamen 
disclaimed  responsibility  for  eastern  Formosa,  and  conceded 
the  right  of  Japan  to  chastise  the  savages  there.  While 
Soyejima  was  absent  in  China,  a  Japanese  junk  was  wrecked 
in  Formosa,  and  its  crew  were  stripped  and  plundered.  On 
the  return  of  the  Embassy,  1,300  Japanese  soldiers,  under  the 
command  of  Saigo  Yorimichi,  were  ordered  to  avenge  the 
outrage,  and,  after  a  few  skirmishes  with  savages,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  occupy  the  eastern  part  of  Formosa.  There  they 
built  roads,  organized  camps,  and  directed  fortifications  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  modern  engineering  and 
military  art.  Incited,  it  is  said,  by  foreign  influence,  the 
Chinese  government  now  began  to  urge  its  claims  upon  the 
whole  of  Formosa,  and  to  denounce  the  Japanese  as  intrud- 
ers. For  a  time  war  seemed  inevitable,  but  the  result  of  the 
negotiations,  intrusted  to  Okubo,  who  was  sent  to  Pekin, 
was  that  the  Chinese  paid  an  indemnity  of  $700,000,  and  the 
Japanese  evacuated  the  island.  The  abortive  expedition  had 
cost  Japan  $5,000,000  and  seven  hundred  lives. 

Japan's  relations  with  Corea  were  to  have  much  more 
momentous  consequences.  During  the  Tokungawa  period, 
the  so-called  Hermit  Kingdom  had  sent  regularly  embassies 
conveying  homage  to  Japan ;  but,  not  relishing  the  change 
which  the  latter  country  underwent  in  1868,  disgusted  at  the 
departure  of  the  Mikado's  government  from  traditional  ideals, 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  NEW  JAPAN.  377 

and  emboldened  by  the  failure  of  the  French  and  American 
expeditions  against  her  own  territory,  Corea  sent  to  Tokio 
insulting  letters,  in  which  she  taunted  Japan  with  slavish 
truckling  to  the  foreign  barbarians,  and  declared  herself  an 
enemy.  This  incident,  which  took  place  in  1872,  rendered 
the  project  of  a  war  with  Corea  extremely  popular  in  the 
Japanese  army  and  navy.  Some  years,  however,  were  to 
elapse  before  an  armed  contest  took  place  between  the  two 
countries.  In  1875,  Mr.  Arinori  Mori  was  dispatched  to 
Pekin,  and  Kuroda  Kiyotaka,  at  the  head  of  some  men-of- 
war,  entered  Corean  waters.  The  twofold  diplomatic  and 
naval  demonstration  was  crowned  with  success.  A  treaty 
of  peace,  friendship  and  commerce  was  concluded  between 
Japan  and  Corea  on  February  27,  1876.  In  pursuance  of 
this  treaty,  Japan,  in  1876,  secured  the  opening  of  the  port 
of  Fushan  to  her  trade,  as  compensation  for  an  outrage  per- 
petrated on  some  of  her  sailors.  In  1880,  Chemulpo,  the 
port  of  Seoul,  the  Corean  capital,  was  also  thrown  open  to 
Japanese  commerce.  The  activity  of  the  Japanese  gave 
umbrage  to  the  court  of  Pekin,  and,  in  1881,  a  draft  com- 
mercial treaty  was  drawn  up  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  in 
conjunction  with  the  representatives  of  the  principal  Western 
powers  at  the  Chinese  capital,  and  carried  to  Seoul  for  ac- 
ceptance by  the  American  naval  officer,  Commodore  Schu- 
fe]dt.  The  treaty,  being  recommended  by  China,  was,  nat- 
urally, accepted  by  Corea.  When  the  Japanese,  however, 
observed  that  the  Chinese  were  putting  forward  a  pretension 
to  control  exclusively  the  destinies  of  the  Hermit  Kingdom, 
they  determined  to  assert  their  old  claim  to  an  equal  voice 
with  China  in  the  Corean  peninsula.  They  allied  them- 
selves with  the  so-called  progressive  party  in  Corea,  and 
thus  forced  China  to  link  her  fortunes  with  the  reactionists. 
Except  among  the  reformers,  who  constituted  but  a  weak 
minority  of  the  Corean  population,  the  Japanese  were  far 
from  popular  in  the  Hermit  Kingdom,  and,  in  June,  1882, 
the  reactionists  attacked  the  Japanese  Legation,  murdered 
some  of  its  inmates  and  compelled  the  survivors  to  flee. 


378  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

Thereupon,  the  Japanese  sent  a  force  to  exact  reparation, 
while  the  Chinese,  on  their  part,  sent  a  force  to  restore 
order.  A  temporary  accommodation  was  effected,  but,  for 
two  years,  Chinese  and  Japanese  soldiers  remained  close  to 
one  another  under  the  walls  of  Seoul.  In  December,  1884, 
a  second  collision  occurred  between  the  Japanese  and  Co- 
reans,  the  latter  being  aided  this  time  by  the  Chinese.  The 
first  named  were  compelled  to  flee.  The  Tokio  govern- 
ment obtained  reparation  for  this  fresh  outrage,  but,  not 
satisfied  therewith,  it  dispatched  Count  Ito  to  Pekin  to  bring 
about  some  permanent  arrangement.  There  is  no  doubt 
that,  at  this  time,  the  Chinese  occupied  a  much  stronger 
position  in  Corea  than  did  the  Mikado's  subjects,  but  the 
advantage  was  thrown  away  by  an  agreement  which  tied 
China's  hands  and  had  far-reaching  consequences. 

Li  Hung  Chang  was  appointed  Plenipotentiary  to  nego- 
tiate with  Count  Ito,  and  a  convention  was  signed  by  them 
at  Tientsin,  on  April  18,  1885.  It  provided,  first,  that  both 
countries  should  recall  their  troops  from  Corea;  secondly, 
that  no  more  officers  should  be  sent  by  either  country  to  drill 
Corean  soldiers;  and,  thirdly,  that  if,  at  any  future  time, 
either  of  the  parties  to  the  convention  should  decide  to  send 
a  force  to  Corea,  it  must  straightway  inform  the  other.  By 
this  compact,  China  acknowledged  that  Japan's  right  to  con- 
trol Corea  was  on  a  level  with  her  own,  and  it  was  hence- 
forth unreasonable  for  the  Pekin  authorities  to  speak  of 
Corea  as  a  vassal  State.  For  nine  years  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  Tientsin  Convention,  peace  prevailed  in  the  Hermit 
Kingdom.  In  the  spring  of  1894,  however,  the  Tong  Haks, 
a  body  of  religious  reformers,  broke  into  open  rebellion,  and, 
toward  the  end  of  May,  obtained  a  considerable  success  over 
the  troops  of  the  Corean  government.  China  was  at  once 
requested  to  dispatch  a  force  to  save  the  capital,  and,  by  the 
10th  of  June,  2,000  Chinese  soldiers  were  encamped  at  Asan, 
a  port  some  distance  to  the  south  of  Seoul.  A  few  Chinese 
men-of-war  were  also  ordered  to  cruise  off  the  Corean  coasts. 
In  pursuance  of  the  terms  of  the  Tientsin  Convention,  notifi- 


THE  WAR  WITH  CHINA.  379 

cation  of  the  dispatch  of  these  forces  to  Corea  was  given  to 
the  Tokio  government,  which,  having  had  equal  rights  con- 
ceded to  it,  was  resolved  to  exercise  them  with  promptitude 
and  vigor.  Within  forty-eight  hours  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Chinese  at  Asan,  the  Japanese  had  placed  a  far  superior 
number  of  soldiers  at  Seoul,  and  of  ships  at  Chemulpo.  They 
thus  secured  complete  possession  of  the  capital  and  of  the 
court,  although  both  had  been  in  thorough  sympathy  with 
China.  To  avert  an  insurrection  in  Seoul,  it  was  thought 
needful  to  secure  the  person  of  the  King  of  Corea,  and  his 
palace  was,  accordingly,  captured  by  the  Japanese,  and  the 
ruler  of  the  peninsula  converted  into  their  tool  or  ally.  He 
was,  forthwith,  required  to  put  his  seal  to  a  document  order- 
ing the  Chinese  troops,  who  had  come  at  his  invitation,  to 
leave  the  country.  This  seizure  of  the  King's  person  took 
place  on  July  23,  1894.  Two  days  later,  the  Japanese  squad- 
ron attacked  the  transport  "Kowshing"  and  some  armed 
vessels  which  were  convoying  it.  In  the  ensuing  engage- 
ment, one  Chinese  man-of-war  was  sunk,  one  was  disabled, 
and  1,200  soldiers  went  down  with  the  "Kowshing."  On 
the  same  day,  the  Japanese  General  Oshima  left  Seoul  with 
a  small  force  to  attack  the  Chinese  camp,  which  had  been 
transferred  from  Asan  to  Song-hwan,  a  strongly  fortified 
position.  The  place  was  carried  on  July  29  by  a  night  sur- 
prise with  a  loss  to  the  Chinese  of  500  killed  and  wounded ; 
the  remainder  of  the  force  then  retreated  to  Pingyang,  a  town 
north  of  Seoul,  on  the  main  road  to  China.  These  encounters 
were  followed  by  a  reciprocal  declaration  of  war  between 
China  and  Japan  on  August  1,  1894.  There  ensued  a  lull  in 
hostilities,  during  which  Japan  poured  her  troops  into  Corea, 
while  the  Chinese  fleet  remained  inactive  in  the  harbors  of 
"Wei-hai-Wei  and  Port  Arthur.  About  the  beginning  of 
September,  a  Japanese  force  of  13,000  men  under  General 
Nodzu  was  ordered  to  attack  the  strong  position  occupied  by 
the  Chinese  at  Pingyang.  The  assault  was  delivered  on  May 
15,  and  the  Chinese  were  compelled  to  retreat  with  a  loss  of 
2,000  killed,  in  addition  to  the  wounded  and  prisoners.  The 


380  HISTORY   OF  JAPAN. 

sturdiness  of  the  defense  at  certain  points  was  attested  by 
the  fact  that  the  victors  themselves  lost  633  killed,  wounded 
and  missing.  The  capture  of  Pingyang  resulted  in  the 
Chinese  evacuation  of  Corea. 

While  the  fighting  was  taking  place  on  land  at  Pingyang, 
the  Chinese  fleet,  under  the  command  of  Admiral  Ting,  was 
conveying  troops  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yalu  River,  the  north- 
western boundary  of  Corea,  where  the  Chinese  were  collect- 
ing a  second  army.  Returning  from  the  fulfillment  of  this 
task,  the  fleet  was  encountered  off  the  island  of  Hai  Yang 
on  September  17,  by  a  Japanese  squadron  under  Admiral 
Ito.  The  naval  combatants  were  nearly  equal  in  strength, 
each  numbering  ten  war  vessels ;  two  of  the  Chinese  ships, 
however,  were  superior  in  armament.  The  result  of  the 
action  was  that  five  of  the  Chinese  torpedo  boats  were  de- 
stroyed, and  the  total  loss  of  the  Chinese  in  killed  and 
wounded  was  1,000,  while  that  of  the  Japanese  was  but  265. 

The  Japanese,  having  been  re-enforced  by  a  considerable 
body  of  soldiers  under  Marshal  Yamagata,  began  their  for- 
ward movement  from  Pingyang  early  in  October,  1894,  and 
on  the  10th  of  the  month  reached  the  Yalu,  where  they 
found  a  considerable  Chinese  army  posted  on  the  northern 
bank  of  the  river.  After  a  merely  nominal  resistance,  how- 
ever, the  Chinese  officers  and  soldiers  abandoned  their  fortifi- 
cations on  October  25  and  26,  thus  allowing  the  Japanese  to 
capture  an  enormous  quantity  of  war  materials,  including 
seventy-four  cannon,  over  4,000  rifles  and  more  than  4,000,- 
000  rounds  of  ammunition.  While  Marshal  Yamagata  was 
forcing  the  passage  of  the  Yalu,  another  Japanese  army 
under  Marshal  Oyama  had  landed  on  the  Liau-tung,  or 
Regent's  Sword  peninsula,  with  the  view  of  assailing  the 
great  naval  station  of  Port  Arthur.  The  natural  and  arti- 
ficial strength  of  this  place  was  great ;  over  300  guns  were 
in  position,  and  the  garrison  numbered  at  least  10,000  men, 
while  the  assailants  did  not  exceed  13,000,  although,  of 
course,  they  were  materially  aided  by  their  fleet.  Having 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hua-yuan  River,  about  100  miles 


THE  WAR  WITH  CHINA.  381 

north  of  Port  Arthur,  the  Japanese  pushed  southward  and 
captured  the  well-fortified  city  of  Chinchow  without  losing  a 
man.  On  the  next  day,  they  had  a  similar  experience  at 
Talien-wan,  where  they  found  over  120  cannon,  2,500,000 
rounds  of  artillery  ammunition,  and  nearly  34,000,000  rifle 
cartridges.  On  November  22,  1894,  the  Japanese  army  and 
fleet  made  a  concerted  attack  upon  Port  Arthur,  and,  with 
the  loss  of  eighteen  men  killed  and  250  wounded,  gained  pos- 
session of  a  naval  stronghold  on  which  $20,000,000  had  been 
spent.  During  the  following  month  of  December,  the  force 
under  Marshal  Yamagata  advanced  into  Manchuria,  but  here 
they  were  confronted  by  a  fresh  Chinese  army,  which  had 
been  assembled  to  defend  Mukden,  the  old  Manchu  capital, 
and  which  evinced  a  good  deal  of  courage.  In  one  fight  at 
Kangwasai,  the  Japanese  experienced  a  loss  of  400  men,  and 
the  subsequent  capture  of  Kaiping  cost  them  300  killed  and 
wounded.  About  the  middle  of  January,  1895,  the  energies 
of  the  Japanese  were  turned  against  the  naval  fortress  of 
"Wei-hai-Wei,  which  is  situated  on  the  northern  coast  of  Shan- 
tung, opposite  Port  Arthur,  and  constitutes,  with  the  last- 
named  place,  the  keys  of  the  Gulf  of  Pechihli.  After  land- 
ing, on  January  20,  at  Yungchang,  a  little  west  of  the  place 
to  be  attacked,  the  Japanese,  six  days  later,  appeared  at  the 
gates  of  Wei-hai-Wei.  The  place  was  defended  not  only  by 
a  semicircular  line  of  forts  and  batteries  and  two  fortified 
islands  in  the  bay,  but  also  by  the  Chinese  fleet  under  Ad- 
miral Ting,  which  comprised  nine  large  vessels,  besides  six 
small  gunboats  and  seven  large  and  four  small  torpedo  boats. 
The  attack  began  on  January  29,  and  continued  for  three 
weeks;  nor  would  Admiral  Ting,  even  then,  have  consented 
to  surrender,  had  he  not  received  a  telegraphed  message  from 
Li  Hung  Chang  to  the  effect  that  no  help  need  be  looked  for. 
After  the  terms  of  surrender  were  agreed  upon,  the  Chinese 
admiral  committed  suicide.  After  the  fall  of  Wei-hai-Wei, 
the  Japanese  in  Manchuria  continued  their  advance,  and 
captured  the  twin  city  of  Newchang,  thus  placing  them- 
selves between  Mukden  and  the  Chinese  capital.  When 


382  HISTORY   OF   JAPAN. 

spring  was  about  to  open,  they  possessed  an  army  of  100,000 
men,  ready  to  move  upon  Pekin,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
they  could  have  taken  the  city  speedily  and  easily.  Two 
months  previously,  the  Chinese  had  sent  to  Tokio  a  pre- 
tended peace  mission  with  inadequate  powers,  but  now,  the 
Pekin  government,  recognizing  the  impossibility  of  resist- 
ance, appointed  Li  Hung  Chang  plenipotentiary,  and  dis- 
patched him  to  Shimonoseki,  which  he  reached  on  March  20, 
1895.  Luckily  for  the  success  of  his  mission,  he  was  shot  in 
the  cheek  by  a  fanatic  four  days  after  his  arrival,  while  he 
was  returning  from  a  conference  with  Count  Ito,  the  repre- 
sentative of  Japan.  This  outrage  aroused  great  sympathy 
for  Li  Hung  Chang,  and,  to  prove  the  sincerity  of  his  regret, 
the  Mikado  consented  to  an  armistice,  and  sensibly  modified 
the  terms  of  peace  upon  which  he  had  originally  insisted. 
On  April  17,  1895,  the  Treaty  of  Shimonoseki  was  signed, 
and,  on  May  8,  the  ratifications  were  exchanged  at  Chefoo. 
The  provisions  of  the  treaty  may  be  briefly  summed  up  as 
follows:  The  Chinese  were  to  surrender  the  islands  of  For- 
mosa and  the  Pescadores,  and  also,  on  the  Asiatic  mainland, 
the  southern  part  of  the  province  of  Shingking,  including  the 
Regent's  Sword  peninsula,  and,  of  course,  the  naval  fortress 
of  Port  Arthur.  By  way  of  pecuniary  indemnity,  China 
was  to  pay  200,000,000  Kuping  taels,  or,  say,  $170,000,000, 
in  eight  installments,  with  interest  at  the  rate  of  five  per 
cent  on  those  unpaid.  The  commercial  concessions  were  to 
include  the  admission  of  ships  under  the  Japanese  flag  to  the 
different  rivers  and  lakes  of  China  and  the  appointment  of 
consuls;  and  the  Japanese  were  to  retain  Wei-hai-Wei  until 
the  whole  indemnity  had  been  paid  and  an  acceptable  com- 
mercial treaty  had  been  concluded.  These  terms  were  by  no 
means  excessive,  in  view  of  the  completeness  of  the  Japanese 
triumph,  but  they  gave  great  umbrage  to  Russia,  which  fore- 
saw that  the  presence  of  the  Japanese  on  the  Regent's  Sword 
peninsula  would  prove  an  obstacle  to  its  plans  of  southward 
extension  through  Manchuria,  and  to  the  attainment  of  an 
ice-free  port.  Moreover,  had  the  Japanese  been  suffered  to 


THE  WAR  WITH  CHINA.  383 

remain  on  the  mainland  of  Asia,  they,  instead  of  the  Rus- 
sians, would  have  become  preponderant  at  Pekin.  Accord- 
ingly, the  Czar's  advisers,  having  secured  the  co-operation 
not  only  of  their  French  ally,  but  also  of  Germany,  pro- 
ceeded to  make  a  diplomatic  move,  the  aim  of  which  was  to 
despoil  the  Mikado  of  a  part  of  the  fruits  of  victory.  Scarcely 
was  the  ink  dry  on  the  Treaty  of  Shimonoseki,  when  Japan 
received  from  the  three  European  powers  just  named  a  polite 
request,  which  veiled,  of  course,  a  threat,  that  she  should 
waive  that  part  of  the  Shimonoseki  Treaty  which  provided 
for  the  cession  of  Port  Arthur  and  the  Liau-tung  peninsula. 
Japan  would  doubtless  have  repelled  the  demand,  had  she 
been  assured  of  Great  Britain's  support.  But  no  assurance 
to  that  effect  was  forthcoming  from  Lord  Rosebery,  then 
British  Prime  Minister,  and,  accordingly,  the  Mikado  con- 
sented to  resign  his  claim  to  the  Liau-tung  peninsula  for  the 
additional  indemnity  of  $30,000,000.  The  final  installment 
of  the  indemnity  was  paid  in  May,  1898,  whereupon  "Wei- 
hai-Wei  was  evacuated  by  the  Japanese,  and,  soon  after- 
ward, was  ceded  by  the  Pekin  government  to  Great  Britain. 
Since  the  compulsory  revision  of  the  Shimonoseki  Treaty, 
the  attitude  of  the  Tokio  Foreign  Office  has  been  marked  by 
much  reserve  and  dignity.  Japan  has  employed  the  years 
that  have  since  elapsed,  and  the  money  received  from  China, 
in  prosecuting  extensive  military  and  naval  reforms.  Nor  is 
the  time  distant  when,  with  the  warships  built  at  home  or 
purchased  in  foreign  shipyards,  she  will  have  a  navy  only 
second  to  that  possessed  by  Great  Britain  in  the  Far  East, 
and  will  be  able  to  place  half  a  million  thoroughly  trained 
and  equipped  soldiers  on  the  mainland  of  Asia.  In  Corea, 
she  has  obtained  increased  freedom  of  action,  Russia  having 
practically  waived  her  claims  to  ascendency  in  that  country ; 
Japan  has  turned  the  opportunity  to  account  by  building  a 
railway  from  Chemulpo  to  Seoul,  which  should  materially 
help  her  to  maintain  control  of  the  Hermit  Kingdom.  What- 
ever may  be  the  Mikado's  ultimate  intention,  he  has,  as  yet, 
given  no  conclusive  proof  of  a  wish  to  participate  in  the  game 


384  .HISTORY  OF  JAPAN. 

of  partition  now  being  played  in  China.  No  protest  camo 
from  him  when,  toward  the  close  of  1897,  Germany  seized 
the  harbor  of  Kiao  Chou,  or  when,  on  March  27,  1898,  a 
convention  signed  at  Pekin  gave  the  Russians  the  usufruct 
of  Port  Arthur  and  Talien-wan.  In  September,  however, 
the  Marquis  (formerly  Count)  Ito  was  dispatched  as  a  spe- 
cial einbassador  to  the  Chinese  capital,  for  the  purpose,  as 
it  is  believed,  but  not  positively  known,  of  arranging  an  al- 
liance between  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  empires,  which 
should  put  an  effectual  stop  to  further  encroachments  on 
the  part  of  Russia.  Then  occurred  the  palace  revolution  at 
Pekin,  whereby  the  young  Emperor  Kwangsu  was  virtually 
dethroned,  and  the  supreme  authority  usurped  by  the  Em- 
press Dowager,  Tsi  An.  There  being,  thenceforward,  no 
hope  of  effecting  the  desired  arrangement,  the  Marquis  Ito 
returned  to  Japan,  soon  after  which — namely,  on  October 
31 — the  homogeneous  Ministry  which  had  taken  office  in 
June  of  this  year — the  first  Ministry  of  the  kind,  by  the 
way,  since  the  establishment  of  the  Constitution  in  1889 — 
was  compelled  to  resign,  and  was  succeeded  by  an  eclectic 
cabinet  even  more  thoroughly  representative  of  the  Japanese 
desire  to  play  a  great  role  in  the  Far  East.  On  November 
6,  an  envoy  deputed  by  the  Mikado  to  present  certain  gifts 
to  the  Chinese  Emperor  insisted  upon  obtaining  an  audience, 
and  thus  succeeded  in  discovering  that  the  unfortunate 
Kwangsu  was  still  living. 

It  remains  to  note  that  the  Tokio  Foreign  Office  has  at 
last  succeeded  in  inducing  the  principal  Western  powers  to 
abolish  the  exterritoriality  clauses  in  their  respective  treaties, 
whereby  their  subjects  were  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Japanese  tribunals.  With  the  disappearance  of  these 
clauses,  which  are  still  exacted  not  only  in  the  case  of  China, 
Siam,  Persia  and  Morocco,  but  also  in  the  case  of  Turkey 
and  Egypt,  the  Mikado's  empire  may  be  said  to  have  taken 
a  recognized  place  among  highly  civilized  nations. 

THE    END 


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